prepare your heart
well, it was so intense and full of suspense. I dare to say that this drama could have you in chokehold. every episodes would keep you guessing and you will definitely keep watching.but, to people who hates tension, this might not be for you. this is because every episodes have betrayal moments.Even though this is jisoo's first drama, I know for a fact that she can act. it's not easy to play eun young ro role, but she killed it. every emotions are felt.
for haein, I have nothing to say on him but he's so hot.
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This review may contain spoilers
Explanation about Snowdrop
First, I really like the choice of the drama title, let's focus on the Korean title, namely"Seolganghwa" which is a type of flower that has many meanings about life, such as purity, sympathy, and innocence. In England, this flower is interpreted as death and good luck. This is in line with the story in the drama where this flower really symbolizes the story of this drama, where this flower will begin to grow at the end of winter and will bloom, in early spring, this symbolizes the situation in the drama snowdrop where this flower symbolizes suhoo and youngro where they are struggling at a very difficult time, while for winter this symbolizes the hostage situation they are in, for spring itself symbolizes the end of the hostage situation.
for the setting of their own place where they only show the dormitory and also the ANSP tent, I think it's very good, where the writer and director managed to realize the hostage situation well, in fact I'm confused by those who say they are bored with the dorm setting and hope the dorm setting ends quickly, even though there are many dramas that only take place in 1 place, such as, happynes, sweet home, where these 2 dramas are no different from snowdrop, these 2 dramas are surrounded by zombies, snowdrop is surrounded by armed forces. LOL
For the end of this drama itself, for me it makes a lot of sense where the sad ending, sad ending itself has been given instructions by the JTBC from the beginning where at the time the first teaser was released it was seen that JTBC gave instructions for the sad ending, such as the dialogue suhoo "sorry all this because of me" and also youngroo's dialogue "we can meet again right" from here we shouldn't be expecting too much with a happy ending.
Various instructions have been shown by JTBC, such as at the time of the last week, the JTBC publisher showed 2 snowdrop flowers where 1 flower managed to bloom and 1 flower failed to bloom, and this is in accordance with what I explained at the beginning where this snowdrop flower symbolizes Suhoo and Youngro, by because of that JTBC has given a spoiler that only 1 of them will survive. happy ending doesn't even make sense to me.
For the romance
many are wondering why the romance between Suhoo and Youngro is a little and also why the kiss scene is just like that, I think the love story of Suhoo and Youngro itself is very beautiful, if you ask where is the romance?. The romance can be seen in Suhoo's behavior towards Youngro and vice versa, many of their scenes really touched my heart compared to excessive romance such as, when Suhoo without speaking immediately hugged Youngroo who was sad because his father's identity was revealed and he was shunned by his friends, and also at when youngro immediately takes the initiative to comfort suhoo who is sad because he knows that he is just a tool that is ready to be thrown away when it is no longer useful. These 2 things are examples of romance between them, if you want to see more, try to pay attention to Suhoo's behavior towards Youngro and vice versa and you will see how much love they have. In fact, for me, the excessive romance in this hostage situation doesn't even make sense.
For the acting of the cast
for the acting itself, it's extraordinary. I can feel the meaning of every scene in this drama due to the acting of the players.
- Jung hae in : managed to portray the character of a spy very well, starting from his body posture and also his stature, the thing I like the most about his acting itself is the look in his eyes. The look in his eyes managed to show how much Suhoo loves and worries for Youngro, I myself hope that because JTBC doesn't have an award show, at least this Jung Hai is included in the nomination for best drama actor for baeksang.
- Jisoo : At first I didn't have high expectations for jisoo's acting but, honestly i was very surprised by how natural jisoo's acting was for youngro, jisoo managed to show us how an innocent 20 year old woman meets her first love and also how she survives all the trials . honestly i also hope jisoo can get at least a newcomer actress nomination at baeksang.
- For other casts, it can be said that they managed to portray their characters well, starting from the main role to the support role
Maybe I can say that I am overproud, but this is what the snowdrop drama is like for me, the 1 year I have been waiting for has paid off very well
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Not Good Enough
Korean Drama " Snowdrop " is a historical melodrama.The story is pretty intense, with lots of action and some sweet and humane moments as well.
However, and even though, the start is great and interesting, the rest of the drama is too confusing and stuffy. There are too many characters, and the action keeps getting repeatetive, not to mention the twists that were predictable and boring.
On the other hand, the performances were enjoyable and the actors and actresses portrayed their characters nicely.
The cinematography was impressive, finally, but the pace was messy and the timeline badly handled.
So, overall, three out of ten.
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When faced with an ugly truth what will you do...?
Attractive aspects of the show:1. Sheds light on how far people in power can go to keep that power intact
2. Individuals from opposite factions come to terms with the fact that they were mere pawns in a struggle for something bigger and decide to do the right thing together
3. This is something said often but cannot be emphasized enough: the detrimental mentality with which North Korean soldiers are trained and the helplessness in which ordinary citizens live. I wish the tyranny would end soon and north korea could also become a free country for the citizens residing therein.
4. Cliché but very true: “Love knows no boundaries”
Performance of the Cast:
This is my first time watching any of Jung Hae In or Ji Soo in a drama, so I had no preconceived notion of what was expected of them. The ML plays his character of Lim Soo Ho very well. He is a top-notch agent and a great team leader as well. Hae In portrays the patriotic, resolute, adaptable and magnanimous Soo Ho to perfection. Coming onto the FL, Kim Ji Soo. This is a tricky one given the kind and selfless nature of her character in Yeong-ro. But I feel it missed the mark by some margin. But if she were to continue, she can definitely improve (given her Blackpink background).
Yoo In Na is someone I have plenty of experience watching. Be it the main role, be it a side role she almost always delivers. She is versatile and resourceful. Jang Seung Jo is also very convincing in portraying the honest, upright and just agent Lee Gang-mu.
Thoughts on the Plot:
I am not Korean and don’t have a good understanding of the real premise (1987 elections and the democratic movement) behind the show. Even though it would have been pleasing to see a good ending like one where the rule of president park mu-yeol comes to an end and the conspiracy surrounding the election comes to light, we all know real-life scenarios don’t always end that way and we also need a good number of shows which have a more pragmatic ending*.
Note: *Assuming the events of the plot are meant to be fictious.
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Great plot story but too much stress and pressure
Honestly, the plot story is good. picking the background story in 1987 when most countries in Asia (my country also) was under a dictatorship that was very conservative, anti-communist and anti-socialist even people at that time only voiced left wings things like labour rights, equality etc, the government can framing that protester as communist and made the basis of justification to oppressing people which is very successfully depicted in this film.But unfortunately for me as an ordinary person who has no expertise in judging a drama (watching drama just look for entertainment), I feel too much stress and pressure especially start from episode 4 until the end. I'm f*cking stressed not only about background conditions like political and interest struggles that happen outside the dormitory but also the main couple relationship between the Female Lead (Yeong Ro) that face the harsh reality and feels betrayed by the Male Lead (Soo Ho) background make it very lacks romance just disappointment until several episodes although finally, the romantic feeling starts to grow again in the next few episodes.
It's not enough that, the suffering continues until the end of the episode and facing the fact that the drama ends sadly for this main couple.
make me feel that the stress and pressure I feel are not worth it at the end of the story because of the complexity that built up within the drama. that's why I can't give 9 or 10 stars overall for this drama and I planned to watch some light and sweet story or get rest for a while after watching this drama.
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cruel ending
great acting by female lead and male lead. horrible ending for the male lead and female lead. male lead sacrificed his life for his country but his country wanted him dead, disowned him. for the ending, he was shot to death and the female lead need to endure the pain of losing her mother, brother, father (imprisoned) and her lover. wth writer, went through roller coaster of emotion, anxiousness watching this drama only to find out that the ending was downright disappointing and painful. at least be gentle and make the hero alive? the write basically killed all hopeful leading charactersWas this review helpful to you?
Not one to miss out on
I personally did not expect a lot from this drama and to be honest I was hesitant to watch this drama considering the fog of controversies this drama was surrounded by. I totally understand the sensitivities of the South Korean citizens and can see how problematic and insensitive this drama might come off for those that lived through this period of time however for what it's worth when it is viewed from an unbiased point this drama is absolutely edge-of-the-seat riveting.I cannot even imagine the amount of thought and effort that the whole team would have put into creating this drama. We're in the 8th episode and I still have no idea where the story is going. The way the drama is unfolding is a perfect example of clever storytelling. I think we're still too early to pass on whether the plot is a success or not but it has got me thinking about it more than I want to.
In terms of acting, Jung Hae-in stole my heart since he had side character roles and he is the king of melodramas so to see him take up challenging roles like in D.P. and Snowdrop fills me with pride. I see this guy and think "he's one to look out for." He rose up my list so fast so it's fair to say that 90 percent of the reason I am watching this is for him lol.
Now, I read a lot of comments on the net saying Jisoo needs to improve her acting but I can assure y'all that Jisoo has done a stellar job so far so if you're afraid of being disappointed by her don't be because she has done amazing. This isn't to say that she's delivered a performance that is at a veteran level, don't get me wrong but for a rookie actor (literally her first drama) she's done absolutely amazing.
At times her expressions are a little stiff and in terms of micro-expressions and body language she could do better but I'm proud of her for taking up such a difficult role and giving her all.
All in all, the casting is perfect. Shoutout to Kim Hye-yoon and Kim Min-kyu for being so freaking good at portraying their characters.
The OSTs
The intro is so soothing (unlike the drama itself damnit). The track list so far is good. There isn't any I'm particularly obsessed with presently but the soundtrack is really good. Jehwi, one of my favourites, did absolutely amazing as always.
Re-watch value
I cant help but go back and re-watch clips of the drama but maybe that's because I have to compensate for waiting for each episode so for now, a 10.
Overall
Don't skip it. DO NOT. It's so good trust me.
Also R.I.P Kim Mi-soo. you will be remembered and I hope you are at peace now.
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Good acting earns extraaa stars for this drama.
7 episodes have been released till now. I write this as I wait for the next episode to air.(Might be too soon to comment but I am boreeeddd.)
So far, the drama has been engaging. I wouldn't say it is a great drama but it has been good. The premise of the drama is the good old "falling for the forbidden" trope. However, the story has been different. The actions and mentality of people when faced with difficult situations has been written and portrayed well. The genre of drama is romance and melo, do not expect thrill, which is a mistake I did, lol. I expected some thrill in tense moments and twists. And though there are plot twists, they are not presented in a thrilling way rather in a realistic way. You will like it if you like realistic narration of story. I personally love dRaMaaaa :D
The director has done a good job of making me both love and hate Im Sooho's character. Jung Haein is stunning as usual. I personally love him in negative roles and that was the major reason for starting this drama. His cold, death stares add bonus stars to this drama. You see, I didn't have enough of him as the bad guy in Prison Playbook.
Queen Jisoo portrays the innocence of Yeong-ro with ease. I really really hope she does more dramas. She can carry the idol-actor status as perfectly as IU, Yoona and Suzy do.
The politicians and their wives are all hateful and played to perfection by the veterans.
Yoo In-na is as beautiful as ever. Kim Hye yoon is very convincing as Boon-ok who is annoying and rude but also, pitiful (think Ye-seo from Sky Castle). Jang Seung-jo is "The Good Detective" (hehe, pun intended). All other side characters have been cast perfectly, from Jisoo's roommates to hall director Pi to even the security guy at the dorm. Also, I was happy to see Kim Min-kyu. ;)
Cinematography and set design are amazing as usual.
Overall, it is a one time watch. Although I am sure I'll keep coming back to watch fmvs of Soo-ho and Yeong-ro.
PS : The controversy surrounding the drama is not something an international fan can comment on. That is a topic for Koreans.
Rest in peace, Kim Misoo.
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Best drama to end 2021 with love and warmth
It's really a very good drama to be watched with your friends and loved ones. you'll find all the gut filling vibes and with the most adorable leads and support. If you are into tragic drama and all that stuff this drama is a perfect one. So far very nice and decent story with unbelievable twits and turnsDo watch and return the love and support to the stars. The bonus part at the end just steels the whole show and makes heart flutter a lot.. The whole drama is full of extremely beautiful visuals .. hope you all like the drama . A perfect drama to be watched again and again
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Loved every bit of it ❤️❤️❤️
I would definitely re-watch it! Already saw it twice, once alone and second time with my family!! Still loved it... actually it made me sad in the end but true love is like that. You always live inside your loved one's heart till their last breath. Just how Sooho will always live inside Youngro!Honestly never liked politics in my life but this series made me change my perception about a lot of things... the way politicians and past dictators does things for their own interests and plan dangerous schemes which involves murder of innocent citizens and arm forces, sad reality! I can say Snowdrop changed my taste. Maybe I would go for another romance/history/action genre series in future! This is the beauty of cast and actors who can make any series interesting. Obviously Jung Hae-in, Jisoo, Jang Seung had most of the scenes, and if I would say I only liked their characters then it would be correct! All three of them did justice to their characters, rest of the cast was also good, hope I get to see Jisoo and Jung Hae-in together in some other series soon.
Only thing which I wanted to change was that they should have shown story outside the dorm and more scenes of Youngro Sooho to us!
All the episodes were filled with amazingly-soothing music! Among them my most favourite tracks were If you are with me by SUNG SI KYUNG and Looks like a real thing by JEHWI!
10/10 for me!
(MY REVIEW AFTER WATCHING 7 EPISODES):
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Okay so not only the story is very attractive, but the whole cast, production people, choreographers and camera team put a lot of effort to make it!! When I heard that Jisoo from blackpink is working in some series and it is going to be her very first mainlead drama... I was quite curious but trust me every bit of the scene she performed her makeup, outfits, her overall look, acting plus her chemistry with Jung hae-in is electrifying! Adoring their couple so much after watching all the episodes till now!!
The backdrop story is also great, it is good to know about the democratic history of Korea. It is not entirely the actual truth but somehow closer to it.. I am enjoying it a lot and so obsessed that it gets harder to wait for the next episodes now! I wish 8th january come soonest so I may get to see what happen next. Other than that Jung Hae-in, girls who are playing Yeong-ro's roommates, Black tiger, Assistant of Sooho (that comrade guy Jo) all are justifying their characters so well.
This is my very first drama of Jung Hae-in after While you were sleeping (As I haven't completed it yet so can't say much about his previous work) , but I'm very impressed by his acting skills and his fan now. He's playing special security agent's role so well. Everything is upto the mark and hope people appreciate their hardwork and understand that this is a drama and fiction work!! Very beautiful storyline, all the scenes make you fall in love with it!!
In the beginning it takes me 2 episodes to fully understand the concept, for me it was boring in the beginning but then when I fully understood the complete story I started getting obsessed with it!! A must watch drama for everybody who is into action/thriller/lovestory genre! The lead pair is love, the way they look at eachother makes you fall in love with them!! They're soooooo cute ❤️
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This review may contain spoilers
not bad, but definitely could have been better!
**edit at the bottom after finishing the whole drama; TLDR: haein is amazing, ending lacked very much and hence points degraded from a previous 10/10 to an 8.5**loved the first 4 episodes a lot, they showed excellent potential for the story and the characters for the future. haein is an incredible actor and you can tell that from the very first scene, and although jisoo has her weaknesses, not bad for a first drama. the romance and the love story that snowdrop has been marketed for was beautiful, sweet, sad and melancholic, however i felt it took a backseat after the first four episodes. i understand that this was their attempt at exploring character dynamics and a painfully slowburn plot, however, i feel like when the screen wasnt on the two of them the love story wasnt there anymore. the plot itself is weak, and slow paced. slow paced plots are excellent if done well, however the weak plot made the episodes a bit monotonous and predictable. the chemistry of the characters and the 80s timeline, that whole potential felt wasted to a point, and i wish they could have done more with that.
people may disagree, saying they dont think the leads should end up together as the ML took wayy too much advantage of the fl, however, i think even though his redemption is in process and hes not quite there yet, he is very much redeemable and i dont hold anything against the fl for forgiving him. heck, mans trying his best, ill give him that. but the slow path to redemption, i personally enjoy. it gave his character realistic depth, he didnt turn a switch and went from god to bad, but is going through the slow process of unlearning learnt behaviours and asking for forgiveness. he is far from it, at this point in the story (epi 13) but hes getting there.
i think to better understand my review for SD, one can compare it with vagabond. vagabond sets the potential for this drama, SD had the potential to be fully action packed in a historical setting with a painfully slow burn romance that could be felt in every scene, whether the characters were there or not. however, i also wont be too critical of SD considering the mass havoc the knetz made in its production, the poor thing was ridden with unprecedented controversies that it very much did not deserve and i can understand and see the diligence with which the plot was written, so as not to offend any party while still making it enjoyable to the public. its a difficult thing, and i cut them some slack. the writers could have done better, but i understand their situation. its still a pretty good effort, and props to them to pull it off despite the controversies the knetz surrounded it by!
genuinely, despite all its flaws and loopholes, all in all, my fangirl heart enjoyed the drama thoroughly. the visuals, the music, the production was very nice. the ost was beautiful, sad, portrayed the characters angst and yearning really well. also im such a sucker for haein, i have to admit his character was more fleshed out by him and the nuances he portrayed rather than what the plot gave him. props to him as an actor, thoroughly enjoyed his performance. im also a sucker for not good not bad, morally grey male leads finding their way in a complicated world, so i genuinely enjoyed this. give this man more roles like these, he can definitely pull them off.
all in all, imperfect, but beautiful and enjoyable.
**EDIT** after finishing the series...
i was very seriously overlooking the flaws and loopholes of this drama in hopes for a fulfilling ending. i feel like the whole thing was pivoted to its ending, it really depended on how cleanly and beautifully they wrapped up the lose threads they oh so beautifully opened in the first 4 episodes, but alas. that wasnt the case, i dont mind tragic ends but this was just poorly done. no matter how much i think i cant excuse it.
all in all, i still loved it, but for much different reasons now: my guy Jung HaeIn carried the show on his beautiful, beautiful back. plotholes aside, i think JHI did an incredible job as SooHo and he deserves all the credit for this. Jisoo did well for her first project as well but my guy HaeIn really stole the show. watch if you want amazing acting on his end, truly incredible. Yoo InNa too in the end. wow.
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Don't fuckin watch this mind numbingly stupid romanticizing nazi character drama.
worst drama!The writer literally lost her direction on the plot after ep 3. I get it that it's all fiction but at least make a hostage situation realistic. Captors letting go of the characters who broke their rules for numerous time, when they would have been shot to death in one go for even moving an inch in a realistic situation. They truly made a hostage situation a comedic situation through this drama. How can you still fcking love a man who put a gun against your head? Falling for a guy who is a terrorist? Romanticizing the captor and literally a figure like nazi? I mean I would have considered the "romance" in this drama but the two leads barely spent a quality time together that would have led a Romeo And Juliet like tale. No chemistry was shown at all through the story. The stupid romance plot was nothing but forced into the viewers' faces with no chemistry between the leads. One day the fl is beating the ml and cursing him for her brother's death and the next day she's kissing the ml who i remind you is a terrorist. Moreover, it looked like the fl was the only one falling for the ml since the beginning. The ml only wanted to return to his home country to his sister who was waiting for him on the other side without showing us he truly felt for the fl. Everything about the romance was only told but never shown.
Then we have dumb female lead who does nothing but create more problems and always wants to bandage people's wounds which is never a problem to the captors. The captors tell her to stay put, but she never listens and does her own will and the captors literally stays put without any action towards the fl. Like really? They give one warning , then says "it's the final warning" and it repeats till the final episode. I haven't seen 1 single hostage situation where captors are that forgiving and so kind. This whole drama is just dumb and has 0 level of intellect.
Oh and the politics? We all know by reading few articles about the ANSP at the time were dangerous, cruel just bloody. But this drama shows us the ANSP people and other politicians are nothing but clowns. Big fat dumbasses who does nothing but fight amongst themselves like toddlers. Childish i must say. Just save yourselves 17 hours of your precious time and skip this whole ass stupid drama and protect yourselves from losing brain.
Also, the revealing of the "suspense" was so rushed lol. I've never seen a useless suspense reveal as boring as this one. Everything happened in 1 go with no major direction or goal. I laughed out loud when The chef of the hostel and that caretaker of the dormitory was revealed to be the spy of Nk. Like seriously, all they were doing was sit in the corner and starting tantrum like a kid here and there. This whole hostage situation could have ended in few episodes but it continued till mid of episode 16. Or the whole hostage situation could have just started in episode 12 or something while building up characters' personality, romance development between the lead characters (even the supporting characters) and giving backgrounds for the existing characters , their past, rather than haphazardly heaping all these important stuffs in the end of the story.
Ps how i wished it was the fl who died instead of the ml cause of her stupidity and annoying fucked up crying scenes that started from ep 4 and continued till ep 16 final scene and she does nothing but just THAT throughout the whole drama.
Should have gotten worst drama of 2021/22 award! Deserved~
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