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Shut Up: Flower Boy Band korean drama review
Completed
Shut Up: Flower Boy Band
1 people found this review helpful
by al2000
Sep 7, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 10.0
This review may contain spoilers

Underrated drama about growing up, grief and friendship

I started this drama with very low expectations because the premise and title sounded silly and juvenile, but I was quickly proven wrong. This is one of those cases where great things can come in small (and understated) packages. The plot is simple and the premise is unoriginal, but SUFBB manages to make it feel fresh. Rather than focusing on the journey to become famous and making their signing onto the label their end goal and the climax of the story, the drama focuses instead on how problems aren't fixed by money or fortune, but expanded.

I loved how they used the premise of a high school rock band becoming famous to tell a story about grief and loss, first love, loyalty to themselves vs. their friends, familial duty, legacy, creative vision and the difficulties of communicating it to others, the search for meaning and growing up to realize you need to walk your own individual path. All this was communicated beautifully by a tight script, good direction and good acting from the whole cast. Despite the things that seemed very much of their time (the style, the hair, some of the music) they hit on something so true in the actual emotions of the characters that it's still very rewatchable.

On the whole this reminds me somewhat of Coffee Prince in that it tells a story that on the surface is tropey and dated, but that gets at something more emotionally raw and thematically interesting than its contemporaries. If you're going to watch a coming-of-age drama, or are looking for something underrated to watch, I would highly recommend this!
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