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Acting/Cast: I thought everyone did a great job even the supporting character. In my opinion, there was no antagonist. Everyone did their role really well. I was able to relate to some of students and their struggle for school.
Music: The Ost was amazing! It suit the drama really well. Sometimes, I would search for the Ost and it would bring back so much memory.
Rewatch Value: I would watch it again if I have time. It was not boring at all and it was funny and cute at the same time.
Overall: I really enjoyed the the drama. I learned a lot from the drama and all the tips I have learn I am using it for school. This drama taught me that school is really important and that I have to study a lot if I want to be successful.
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Acting - overall impressive. The cast was experienced; those who weren't were still very good. I want to commend the 5 students because they looked pretty young when filming the drama, but their acting is completely realistic and beliavable!! The teachers, especially the two main ones, convey their emotions and thoughts perfectly as well, and make you put yourself in their shoes.
Music - I loved it too! When I search the OSTs it brings back many memories, and lots of the songs talk about getting up again after failing many times, and about achieving your dreams - I find it really touching and motivating! All I think is lacking is a sad, emotional song to bring more tears of sadness to your eyes, which is why I'm not giving it a full 10 :) (don't be mistaken, there are still emo songs)
Rewatch value - As long as I have the time I wouldn't mind rewatching it. This is the type of drama where you wouldn't mind rewatching ANY episode, so if you feel like rewatching ep 7 out of the blue, you'll enjoy it the same
Overall - It was a fantastic drama!!! Wonderful acting, inspiring plot, touching and lively music - it was all FABULOUS ^^ There are just a few miscommunications here and there that brought down the 10 to a 9. Especially the romance part - romance to me is incredibly important cuz I love shipping couples so much, which is also partly why I didn't give it a 10. But considering that I love romance so much but am still giving it a 9 though the romance is lacking compared to other shows, speaks volumes about how amazing the rest of the story is :D If you're not a bigger for romance, or at least you don't need romance for it to be a great show, I think you will really love this show. Especially if you love bromance and relationships between students and teachers, this is perfect. No kidding. Give it a chance, I promise it won't disappoint :)
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this drama show the struggle of an orphaned male student who lives with his grandmother and wanted to quit school so he could work and help ease the burden of his grandmother
show the struggle of a young female student who lived with her mother (that works as escort) has given up on studying because of her degrading results
show the struggle of an abandoned female student who lives alone in a luxurious apartment that her parents provided for her as she tries to figure out where her real motivation lies
shows the struggle of a male student who comes from a rich family but lack the motivation to study and only wanted to pursue dancing as a career
shows the struggle of a male student who studied hard but seemed to make the same mistake every time he took the test
together they carry baggage of their past and future selves and work their way to succeed in their last final year as highshool students
The drama is well written, relatable and heartwarming at the same time...the music choices were the back bone of the emotions of this drama...there are some spark of romance but ultimately, it;s about friendships and hardships and determination to steer their life around for the better...
I highly recommend this drama
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Started out nice but it dragged on and got a bit repetitive which kind of made me lose interest at the half. Also, the unrealistic topics studied did not add to the credibility.
I liked the cast, I really did but I could not really bring myself to really care about any of them so this made it difficult to sit through all 16 episodes.
The show was just a bit above average but I would not watch it again.
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Amazing WOW
All I have to say is WOW this drama is definitely amazing, it’s the first drama I’ve seen about school that isn’t about corrupt, or just a drama about being in school and dating. It’s a actual about study in school, and study hard to get a brighter future. It’s a heartbreaking drama about troubling kids who people look down on because of there background/ just troubling kids with no parents guidance/ or no parents. This drama shows how much education can get you where you want to be, and not being looked down on as a troubling no good kid. Even though I feel like the study and teaching was a little rough, it’s showing an example of how much they want to graduate. Because nothing comes easy in life, everything you earn you swept through hard works to get where you want to be in life.Was this review helpful to you?
Story - the premise is not that original, though in this case it was done very well and the way it was told and the characters (especially teachers) were original. Rare for me to watch two episodes one hour long in a row but I did here. The bit right at the end brightens you up after a lot of emotion.
Characters - brilliant
Music - some of it got on my nerves tbh, especially the folksy music and "fighting" music.
Re-watch - A hard slog this course of study to through again. Also, when you know how it comes out it loses the dramatic tension towards the end. Not one to re-watch for me but recommended for others, it's worth sticking with. My overall rating may seem illogical given the others are sometimes low, but reflects the good parts that really got you involved - the sum of its parts were better than the individual categories.
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Truly a great show for high schoolers or students in general as it gives not only tips & advice on how to study and do better on test taking but it also portrays a lot of life lessons in between. Whether the tips actually help students is up to the individual, but the main take away from this show is to give students that motivation and strength to do their best even if the odds are all against them. One must change their negative mentality and perspective on life to actually move forward in their future, instead of giving excuses to themselves, they need believe in themselves & their abilities.
The teachers were all lovely (the ones in the special classes), truly such a great support system in education but also as mentors for the students. I loved seeing all their different perspectives on their individual subjects and their approach to make studying it more enjoyable. But I would like to applaud their main mentor as I believe he played the biggest part in all 5 of those students lives. He was the force that truly pushed them to stop pitying themselves, to work hard and make something of themselves before its too late. He encouraged them to not throw their lives and future away just because it’s been programmed in their minds that they’ll never succeed or that they aren’t smart enough because they come from considered “unprivileged” upbringings. The main mentor may have assigned all 5 students the same one goal in the beginning, however it was only placed there to help the students figure out their path and what they wanted to do in their life. So not only was he helping shape their minds for the test, but also helping them subconsciously how they wanted to pursue their future. Also his ability to spread awareness to the parents was really admirable as well. In order for the students to grow, they need the support, encouragement, understanding and love from their loved ones which I feel can be overlooked sometimes in these situations. It needs to start at home! So I love that this drama really emphasized a parents duty to the kids as well.
I think this is a great watch for anybody, whether if you are in school or not, or a parent! If you are a student who is struggling or lack of motivation to study, maybe this will give you that push and determination to ace that next big exam! It may even feel like you have a room full of study buddies =) Or if you are like me who is a huge fan of Yoo Seung Ho!!! lol you will not be disappointed, he may play a stubborn baddy but hes still a softy at heart!!
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Acting/cast: The main cast where amazing especially the ones who play the students from the special class. They are young and yet they pulled of their characters. Special mention to Park Jiyeon who played the role of Na Hyeon Jeong. Her character development is well showed in the drama, from bubbly innocent girl to cold one.
Music: All I can say is the OST fit the drama scenes
Rewatch value: Well when you feel like geting sick of studying, you can rewatch this to remind yourself how important studying can be.
Overall: It's a good drama for all ages.
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This review may contain spoilers
I usually don't watch school dramas unless there's a secondary plot that can convince me to watch them as they tend to be slice of life dramas centering around students and teachers. I actually had glimpses of the drama few years ago on KBS World but it didn't grab me back then. So when KBS World decide to reair the drama after about 6+ years, I might as well take my time to finally watch this properly.School dramas tend to be also be a coming of age dramas where you see stories of kids learning about life and grow into fine adults. Master of Study was like this too, in fact at first glance the drama had some similar vibe with the likes of GTO and Gokusen dramas. Like Baekhyeon was a rebellious troublemaker whose only living family was his grandmother, Chandu was from a well-off family but he had zero interest in study, Pulip's mother runs a bar, Bonggu was often bullied by his classmates due to his appearance and Yunjeong's parents both divorced and remarried leaving her to fend for herself on her own. This and the fact that all five kids belong in the lowest class and the worst school just screams at you as a typical setting of a lot of school dramas featuring delinquent kids. But that's as far as comparison goes.
Something I like about Master of Study was the fact that aside from being a drama about a former delinquent trying to get five students from his former school to start studying hard to enrol into a very good college, the drama also include tips to help students to pick up some study skills to improve themselves. And it had a great message about how even the most problematic kid can bring about great achievement if you're patient enough to listen to them and guide them on the right paths.
Seungho as Hwang Baekhyeon was really a right call. He really played the role of a proud highschool delinquent who's rough in appearance but a softie to his grandmother to perfection. I really love his character so much, he's such a charmer. Whenever I see Baekhyeon cry or trying his hardest not to cry after being scolded harshly by his teachers, my heart really goes to him. Even more when his grandmother got really sick and Baekhyeon really broke down in tears. It was a pity that Seungho didn't get Top Excellence award for his performance as Baekhyeon back then because personally, I felt that he really performed well. I mean as much as the story focused on the Seokho trying to get the five problematic students to Cheonha, the main character that really carried the whole story was Baekhyeon. If not because of the conflict between Kang Seokho and Baekhyeon, a lot of things in the drama wouldn't have happened the way it has. As much as Seokho's intervention affected the attitudes of the teachers and students of Byungmoon High, Baekhyeon's growth and hardship do influence the other kids and special class teachers to also do their best in achieving their goals. And having both Kim Sooro and Yoo Seungho play the respective characters were really a good choice. Sooro and Seungho really made a pretty good combo together.
And I also love the character of Ms Han Sujeong played by Bae Doona. She's really a very good teacher to the five students from the special class. Ms Han's growth from being an English teacher who hasn't quite gain any respect her student into a very passionate teacher who'd go all out to support her students was really great. I really love the relationship Ms Han had with her students especially with Baekhyeon. Not to mention that the parallel between Seokho's relationship with his teacher and Sujeong's relationship with Baekhyeon and how that reflect on the way Seokho act around them, made the characters very relatable. As in, Kang Seokho seeing himself in Baekhyeon and that gave him the strong motivation to want to be a good mentor to Baehyeon and it was endearing to see how the two started to became close despite how much the two tend to clash with each other.
I love the fact that this drama showed how one could try making learning such an enjoyable experience and show that it's not impossible to achieve good grades as long as you have the determination to study hard to achieve it. Somehow now I felt like watching or read the original Dragon Zakura series. Because the story setting was that endearing.
While some may argue that some of the study method shown in the drama was pretty extreme and illogical, pay in mind that the story was about someone trying to get five students who needed to catch up on 5+ years worth of school learning in one year in order to score well on their entrance exams. That goal alone was almost impossible at first glance so if there's any way to even achieve such feats would be by using really extreme study methods.
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