Wystaria
in STEM student hell
Interesting at the beginning, but only okay by the end.
I'm gonna try to keep this as short as possible. "W" has a really strong, interesting premise, but I feel it begins tripping itself up between a third and half of the way through and basically collapses once it passes the finish line. I did find many of its ideas thought-provoking, but I feel "W" tried to do too much and too little at the same time, and thus self-sabotaged itself in a truly unfortunate manner.
The acting was alright. Most of the cast was fine (as a side note, seeing Park Won Sang so happy in his photo in the cast list was a huge jumpscare), while the triad of actors I internally dubbed "the Golden Trio" were absolutely excellent and tugged at my heartstrings every time: Lee Jong Suk (Kang Cheol), Kim Eui Sung (Oh Sung Moo), and Lee Si Eon (Park Soo Bong), with Heo Jung Do (Park Min Soo, aka Yeon Joo's boss) remaining only an honorable mention because he never made me cry (though he sure was funny!). I feel that the four actors I just mentioned gave their absolute all to their performances and it showed, worked well, and significantly improved the drama. In fact, I felt an immense amount of respect for Eui Sung Kim by the end, as just watching his face change from scene to scene was enough to make me cry. In his case, I could fully believe he was who he was portraying, and that's without even considering that he played two roles at once... What an incredible actor.
Han Hyo Joo (Oh Yeon Joo), however... I read that she has gotten awards and recognition before, and I have not watched her other work, but man... I don't know whether it was her, the script, the directing, or all three, but in many of the scenes she was in, she was about as animated as a mannequin. (I swear, the red flags started popping up when I watched the opening titled sequence for the first time with a blank expression even as Jong Suk Lee smiled at her.) She did show some more intense emotion at some points, but I really wanted to see her get immersed in the story and yet, somehow, I didn't. It is partially because of her that I think "W" did not leave a strong impression on me.
For this reason, I almost feel "W" should have been not about Yeon Joo and Cheol, but rather about Sung Moo, Soo Bong, and Cheol. They worked great together as a team, and when the action was focused on them, the story flowed much better because they actually moved with it instead of standing stiffly and waiting to be acted upon. For someone who was supposedly a protagonist, Yeon Joo sure didn't act like one.
And so I feel "W" tried to be too many things. It should have stuck to the more serious, intense tone all the way through. I actually really like romance and am not even remotely opposed to it - in fact, I LIKE when it is included - but here I feel that the over-intense focus on it complicated the story far too much. If it was more of a side thing, perhaps it would have worked better.
The music was okay but forgettable, and having to listen to the same sad song about love in every episode actually got rather annoying. Some editing/filming mistakes were left in the final product but that's more of a minor thing. The thing they did with Eui Sung Kim's face was definitely creepy. The characters themselves were mostly interesting (with those like Yeon Joo being the exception), and I feel that Kang Cheol was the strongest of them all. I'm not one to allow myself to obsess over actors, but with how Jong Suk Lee played the role... I mean, I think I really (respectfully) see why "W" may have been the best webtoon in Korea during its runtime. I just wish they'd given him more of a purpose in the latter half of the series because on his own he WAS a good character.
As a side note, the "W" webtoon art was both beautiful and somewhat inconsistent. I wish they'd structured some of the manhwa sections better because sometimes the chapters looked more like spliced-together highlight reels than actual story episodes. Also, I somehow found myself doubting that "W" could've been the top webtoon when much of its runtime seemed to be focused only on Kang Cheol searching for - and repeatedly failing to find - the real culprit.
The series also left some things unexplained, and seemed to bend its own rules at points where it found itself in a tight spot. I had to turn off my brain after about a third to half of the way through because I didn't want to care too much about a series I wasn't 100% locked in to anyway.
In the end? I guess "W" was okay. I probably won't be rewatching this (sorry, Kang Cheol!), but I'm glad I gave it another chance, at least.
____________
OLD REVIEW: Had to put this on hold.
I will be revisiting this show, but I honestly found it unbearable on the first watch. The female lead was strange and the story was kind of confused and directionless. I thought the initial idea was good but then everything kept getting more jumbled and unintelligible. It's been a few years since I've watched this but that's just what I remember feeling.
Like I said, I will revisit this but for now this is a no from me.
The acting was alright. Most of the cast was fine (as a side note, seeing Park Won Sang so happy in his photo in the cast list was a huge jumpscare), while the triad of actors I internally dubbed "the Golden Trio" were absolutely excellent and tugged at my heartstrings every time: Lee Jong Suk (Kang Cheol), Kim Eui Sung (Oh Sung Moo), and Lee Si Eon (Park Soo Bong), with Heo Jung Do (Park Min Soo, aka Yeon Joo's boss) remaining only an honorable mention because he never made me cry (though he sure was funny!). I feel that the four actors I just mentioned gave their absolute all to their performances and it showed, worked well, and significantly improved the drama. In fact, I felt an immense amount of respect for Eui Sung Kim by the end, as just watching his face change from scene to scene was enough to make me cry. In his case, I could fully believe he was who he was portraying, and that's without even considering that he played two roles at once... What an incredible actor.
Han Hyo Joo (Oh Yeon Joo), however... I read that she has gotten awards and recognition before, and I have not watched her other work, but man... I don't know whether it was her, the script, the directing, or all three, but in many of the scenes she was in, she was about as animated as a mannequin. (I swear, the red flags started popping up when I watched the opening titled sequence for the first time with a blank expression even as Jong Suk Lee smiled at her.) She did show some more intense emotion at some points, but I really wanted to see her get immersed in the story and yet, somehow, I didn't. It is partially because of her that I think "W" did not leave a strong impression on me.
For this reason, I almost feel "W" should have been not about Yeon Joo and Cheol, but rather about Sung Moo, Soo Bong, and Cheol. They worked great together as a team, and when the action was focused on them, the story flowed much better because they actually moved with it instead of standing stiffly and waiting to be acted upon. For someone who was supposedly a protagonist, Yeon Joo sure didn't act like one.
And so I feel "W" tried to be too many things. It should have stuck to the more serious, intense tone all the way through. I actually really like romance and am not even remotely opposed to it - in fact, I LIKE when it is included - but here I feel that the over-intense focus on it complicated the story far too much. If it was more of a side thing, perhaps it would have worked better.
The music was okay but forgettable, and having to listen to the same sad song about love in every episode actually got rather annoying. Some editing/filming mistakes were left in the final product but that's more of a minor thing. The thing they did with Eui Sung Kim's face was definitely creepy. The characters themselves were mostly interesting (with those like Yeon Joo being the exception), and I feel that Kang Cheol was the strongest of them all. I'm not one to allow myself to obsess over actors, but with how Jong Suk Lee played the role... I mean, I think I really (respectfully) see why "W" may have been the best webtoon in Korea during its runtime. I just wish they'd given him more of a purpose in the latter half of the series because on his own he WAS a good character.
As a side note, the "W" webtoon art was both beautiful and somewhat inconsistent. I wish they'd structured some of the manhwa sections better because sometimes the chapters looked more like spliced-together highlight reels than actual story episodes. Also, I somehow found myself doubting that "W" could've been the top webtoon when much of its runtime seemed to be focused only on Kang Cheol searching for - and repeatedly failing to find - the real culprit.
The series also left some things unexplained, and seemed to bend its own rules at points where it found itself in a tight spot. I had to turn off my brain after about a third to half of the way through because I didn't want to care too much about a series I wasn't 100% locked in to anyway.
In the end? I guess "W" was okay. I probably won't be rewatching this (sorry, Kang Cheol!), but I'm glad I gave it another chance, at least.
____________
OLD REVIEW: Had to put this on hold.
I will be revisiting this show, but I honestly found it unbearable on the first watch. The female lead was strange and the story was kind of confused and directionless. I thought the initial idea was good but then everything kept getting more jumbled and unintelligible. It's been a few years since I've watched this but that's just what I remember feeling.
Like I said, I will revisit this but for now this is a no from me.
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