Secret Campus was actually pretty realistic. It had the guts to tackle real, actual issues that teens face on a daily basis. I could relate to a lot of the issues because when I was their age, I went through many of the same things. Most school dramas are watered down and focus more on romance and drama. While Secret Campus did water down some of the more serious issues, the fact is, it actually *did* confront them, watered down or not. Besides telling the story of a group of high school friends and the pressures of getting good grades, it also dealt with bullying, grief, suicide and homosexuality. Each character had a story to tell, a problem to face and an outcome to take responsibility for. While some of the issues were less serious (such as the crushes on the teachers), it was showing that every issue was important to the person who was going through it.
The teen actors did an ok job playing the characters. Most never went on to do much else, but two did end up being mega stars. Park Bo Young was absolutely adorable here, though she was probably the weakest acting of the bunch. Keep in mind that she was very young and that it was her debut drama, so that's to be expected. Lee Min Ho's charisma makes him stand out, showing that even in the earliest days of his career, he had that special something. Even with the 2000's hairstyle and some acne, he was easily the most handsome of the guys. Seol Sung Min was really good and it's such a shame that he hasn't done anything since 2007. I was really impressed with his acting and would like to see him now. The same goes for Seung Hyun, who played the deceased Seung Jae in flashbacks. Unfortunately, he too hasn't done much else since.
I would definitely recommend this drama to anyone who is looking for a realistic Korean school drama. Just make sure you can deal with the outdated hairstyles! Also, one thing of note that really made it more realistic. All the teens actually look like teens in this. Real teens, too. There are no plastic faces and perfectly applied make up. Like I said above, you can even see Lee Min Ho's acne. I find this a major plus for the drama, but others might not.
All in all, I rated this drama 8/10.
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A look at a drama from present year 2022 to drama from 2006.
Not sure how i came about watching this, but it probably has to do with cast and story. For a drama done 16 yo i thought it was done well considering what TV is like in 2022. 'Ill admit i did jump around a little, but that was due to a time limit to watch. I felt that the story was left with no unanswerable questions for 16yo as today the teacher would have been expelled and probably in jail/fine along with parents. It was sad that Seung Jae died at such a young age due to life pressure cause by his mom and the gang members. I enjoyed its watchable.Was this review helpful to you?
Not good...
Just highschoolers fooling around, it failed to keep me interested or make me care about any student. All the problems were only surface level and didn't go any deeper than that. Which is unfortunate because the drama doesn't have another theme to lean on. School/youth drama seems impossible to nail on a larger scoop and eventually they end up being made for teens.Was this review helpful to you?
Potentially good story ruined by bad acting
I cam for Park Bo Young and the story but left because of the others acting. I was cureus about PBYs first role in a drama (acording to the listing here on MDL), for bein her first role and oly being 16 she did do a really good . But most of the rest of the cast just did not have the talant to pull of this story. PArk Bo Young stand out here as the ones with most potential and skill which of course you can see by the amount of credits poth have after competing this drama.This is such a shame, I thought I could forgive bad lighting and that I did not mind bad acting as well as the story is good, this drama taught me an interesting lesson a bout myself (that I do cara abot the acting) and where my limits go for continuing to watch or drop even if the story seems good.
So to sum it up if you want to test your limit for how much bad acting you can over look this is the perfect place to do it, and to see how many episodes you can watch befor you guive up. Other wise I would say you should probably not bother.
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