Meari21

Unfortunately, it's not available in my region.

Hope they also release this on Viu or Netflix so I won't have to re-subscribe to WeTV. I have way too many streaming platform subscriptions already. lol

I agree with your take on Kim Soo Hyun. I never liked him for some reason. I have borderline hated him since I saw him in Dream High. My impression of him was that he was childish, crass, and mentally unstable. I have friends who adore and defend him to this day, but when I heard news of this scandal, I wasn't surprised. I'm still not sold on the other accusations against him, but I'm more inclined to believe that he was indeed into minors as he does seem like the type who would go after young girls. Unfortunately, he's not the only Korean male who likes to pursue younger girls. In fact, it's not as uncommon in Korea as one might expect.

I have to disagree about PSJ, though. He doesn't strike me as problematic. I've watched him in Yoon's Kitchen and Jinny's Kitchen for years and he seems like a good and industrious person. I started liking him as an actor because of those shows. I could be wrong of course. But I hope I'm right about him. lol

There's another Korean actor that I have disliked since I saw him in a drama many many years ago. I just have a feeling that he's a complete jerk in person. lol

I know some genuinely good Korean men but they are few and far between. Hopefully the younger generations won't follow in their footsteps. But yeah, whenever K-dramas romanticize the male leads and their fans believe that men like that do exist in Korea, I can't help but cringe because in my 15 years of teaching hundreds of Korean students, I've only met a handful of truly decent men.

That's how it is in Korea. As they always say, the customer is the king. Teachers aren't really seen as educators but more like service providers. When students or parents complain, your career will be in danger.

I wouldn't generalize it like that. Not all of them are perverts and assholes, after all. But in my experience, the older guys in their late 30's and up are usually the ones that I can't stand because they have superiority complex, are extremely rude, sexist, and overly bossy. If you're younger than them and you're a woman, they treat you like a slave. Not all, of course, but majority of them are like that. The younger generations are better and more liberated. I usually don't have a lot of issues with my younger students.

This scandal reminds me of my past experiences with some of my male Korean students. I remember some of them mentioned that many adult Korean males like them prefer to get with teenage girls because they're easier to please, less demanding, and aren't man-hating girl bosses. One of them even stated that his dream is to marry a 17-year-old girl. He was 27 at that time. I was so appalled and horrified when I first heard these statements. I wanted to tell them how horribly inappropriate their statements and actions were but I admit I chickened out because I was working for a Korean-owned language institute where teachers were basically treated as service providers. If you offend any of the students, you could get fired and blacklisted, so the best I could do was to look displeased and quickly change the subject. I don't know if the accusations against Kim Soo Hyun are true or not but I find them very disturbing. I thought that maybe the students I encountered were just weirdos and hoped that things have changed since then. I guess I was mistaken. Despite all their progress, they're still largely a patriarchal society that thinks women are inferior and can even be likened to property. And that is a travesty.

Possible. He also had the audacity to ask his boss about his marital status without considering the consequences. If I were in his shoes, I would never even think of asking that sort of question, especially since I'm a newbie and could be fired just like that. The question was too personal and uncalled for. When he did that I immediately thought this kid was either raised too sheltered and spoiled or he's just an idiot. lol

So far I'm liking this. It's a male-centric non-romance business drama, which is more my cup of tea. I have some gripes here and there, including the exposition dumps in the beginning, some questionable dialogues, and inappropriate background music. But the rest I'm cool with. The white hair doesn't bother me at all. I have a friend, who is 5 years younger than me, went full gray in her early 30's because of a genetic condition. She doesn't dye her hair but she rocks the silver hair! Lee Je Hoon is in his 40's, some people have fully gray hair around this age.

I actually really liked this. I was happily surprised by how good it is. Probably because I came into this without any expectations. I started watching the anime because of it.

Oh you're here too! I just started this myself because of Hwang Minhyun. I liked him a lot in Study Group. So far it's very C-drama-ish with an anime-like plot. lol

Funny, I took a break at episode 10. I watched episode 11 last week and I was so ready to drop the series. 😆 I will continue and cross my fingers I won't have to endure the character any longer. 🤣

Same here. I started watching this drama when it was still ongoing, but took a break from it because of the female lead. I decided to pick it up again recently but was again turned off by her character. But what you said is encouraging. At least she won't be in this as much. This would've been awesome as a strictly bromance drama ala Mysterious Lotus Casebook. Oh well, I should give this one more shot. I came back to this page thinking about marking the drama as dropped but after reading your comments, I became hopeful. lol

First of all, I was responding to the original poster, not you. They seem to claim that people who like this drama have no taste and are only jumping on the bandwagon. My response to you is on the thread you started yourself. And I didn't say you should keep your opinion to yourself. If you don't want people responding or disagreeing with you, then why put your comment on this thread of all places? People can respect your opinion and still argue with you since that's what this platform is for, for discussion. You mentioned Rurouni Kenshin and said it's great and criticize this for having zero logic when those movies are far from perfect either. How do you explain Kenshin being able to move as fast as lightning and flying all over the place like in some wuxia drama if it's supposed to be a grounded story based on Japanese history? Do you find logic and realism in the hairstyles and costumes they wear? My argument is that these types of dramas are not supposed to have realistic fights or follow the rules of physics. The story is up for debate. Some may find logic in the things you pointed out, but I won't bother trying to explain that here because that's not the reason I watched this for. You expect it to be like Weak Hero Class 1 simply because they're both based on a webtoon/manhwa, but they're not from the same genre. This one has always been more lighthearted in tone and sillier in nature. It's like comparing Mashle and Frieren just because they're both fantasy stories. And the reason why it has a high rating, I already covered that in my response to your other comment.

Just because other people's preferences don't align with yours, doesn't mean they have trashy tastes and yours is classy. And no, it's not the anime-type or coolness factor as you would say it that makes people gravitate towards it. It's the fact that it's a bingeable fun watch with endearing characters, almost zero angst, inspiring stories and dialogues, wholesome themes about friendship and education, and yes, flashy stylistic fight scenes. Sure, it's formulaic, but then so is pop music and yet some of the best songs are actually pop. Some people just want escapist entertainment without the melodrama or the reality bites pain that you often get from dramas with grounded and darker tones. And some people (like me) just want to be reminded of what it was like to be in high school and struggling with their education but overcoming these challenges together with their close circle of friends. Nothing wrong with that. Plus, this genre is not a Gen Z type of thing. It has been around since the 80's. J-dramas, most likely, started this genre when they started adapting manga to live action. You're entitled to your own opinion, of course. If it's not for you, it's not for you. I just wanted to respond to some of the things you pointed out.

This is the type of drama where you're not supposed to take things too seriously. It's a wacky, quirky, and anime-ish type of drama. From the get-go you can tell by the tone that it's going to be over-the-top and you'd have to suspend your disbelief, even throw logic out the door. If you believed it was going to be any different, then that's on you. Yoon Gamin is supposed to be like a superhero character here, he was written as such, thus he is portrayed as such. But he is more than just some meathead idiot, he was born to a celebrated genius and people expected him to take after his father. That kind of thing can traumatize a kid and yet he pushes on. His main motivation in life is to become smarter, but he's only good at one thing, fighting. Yes, he's a bit one-dimensional, but then so are shonen characters like Luffy and Naruto. He was patterned after them, after all. If you want a grounded and highly logical drama, then this type of show just isn't for you. You should stay away from shonen anime too because you'll probably nitpick the hell out of it.

And oh, I read your other comment about Joy of Life and Nirvana in Fire. I watched those two dramas and yes, I would think of them as epic series with excellent acting and close to perfect writing (I do have some beefs with the writing, though. I tend to be more critical when it comes to these more serious dramas because I expect so much more from them). But you have to understand that these are different genres targeted at different audiences. I have an ecclectic taste in dramas and movies so I may be one of the exceptions. I adjust my expectations according to the genre or nature of the content. Those C-dramas are political in nature with far more serious tones, and they are mainly aimed at an older and more discerning audience, so comparing this drama to those is just plain absurd. The ratings are judged by its audience. I doubt there are many people like me who loved Nirvana In Fire would also enjoy Study Group or even check it out. Study Group has a 9 rating because majority of its audience enjoyed it and think highly of it. If everyone on this site watched the drama and rated it, the score would considerably go down because I doubt this would be everyone's cup of tea. If everyone on MDL checked out Nirvana In Fire, many would probably drop it or give it lower ratings also because it's not their type of drama. Talking about these ratings like they apply to the general audience is like thinking that if a movie's Rotten Tomatoes score is 100%, it's immediately great even though there's only one review.

It's excellent. One of the best J-dramas I've seen.

The opening theme alone is very old school rap, a cross between early 90's gangsta rap and late 90's Eminem. Dope!

It depends on the genre of the webtoon/manhwa. Weak Hero Class 1 has a more serious tone. This is more lighthearted and in the same vein as Tokyo Revengers and Windbreaker, which are shonen manga. I imagine if they ever make a live action adaptation of Windbreaker, it would be a lot like this. Besides, it's a stylistic choice of the director so it will never be for everyone. As an anime fan, I actually enjoyed this a lot. If the Chinese can make an anime-coded C-drama in I Am Nobody, why can't the Koreans do the same?

Just got done watching this. Awesome short series, just an all-around fun and endearing K-drama. Over-the-top cool fight scenes, quirky characters, heartwarming emotional beats, and a lovely message about friendship, dreams, and the value of good education. "The moment people stop learning is when they die." If there's a season 2, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll watch it too. Hope Hwang Minhyun will be considered for Solo Leveling.