This is actually good, but don't expect greatness
Despite the reviews that do not match their ratings I believe an approximate 7-8 fits well ( MDL users will give it a 7 and call bad )The show tries to mimic western teen PG16 shows, call it a PG euphoria/Elite while taking aspects from the lately released Revenge of Others and Bitch x Rich.
The plot opens up quite well, your main character is smarter than he appears and the people around him don't see that early. The whole premise of scholarship student in a mega rich school was done in Bitch x Rich but unlike that show here there's a bit more depth to it here, I felt several times that the rich kids are not actually flat when it came to hating scholarship students on the defense that their parent paid riches to enroll them while a group of kids get in through academical grades only and although that doesn't warrant the hatred shown you would have to look through the eyes of the sheltered spoiled kids to understand that their complaints make sense....for them atleast who see the world as money money and money.
The bullying was surprisingly fresh, the antagonist is not evil going around torturing kids like most shows but instead I was sold on the simple concept of the powerful not having to do anything to establish a hierarchy. The kids have so much fear and respect for the antagonist that they become obedient and ready to destroy anyone that annoys him while he just walks away. Most bullying scenes involve his lackeys getting riled up to prove they're powerful while the antagonist shows his lack of care because power is power and does not need evidence at every minor inconvenience. Ri-an's lack of interest is as merciful as it is merciless, by ignoring he spares the kids around him but by ignoring he also lets the bullying continue, a hierarchy is a sharp sword.
The female lead being weak was one of the show's slower points, her trauma and suffering made for a more packed drama but her development took far too long and was not quite fruitful in many areas. I would have loved to see her with the courage to stand up to her family at earlier points in the show, but somehow I believe her maturity shows up well in the show especially in what she deems important to protect and how she protects it...not fit to own a conglomerate but is definitely strong enough to protect what's hers from anyone even the likes of her father as shows in her last couple scenes.
The love triangle DID NOT EXIST for the love of god, people on here might be slow I've noticed. From the beginning the FL was trying to protect the ML and he was trying to get closer to her to figure out the truth as shown many many times, were feelings caught in the process? yes. was there ever an intention of a romance? no they made it obvious they have bigger concerns. Both Leads are so kind-hearted they mistook each other's actions for romance briefly but again the shows us how un-interested both are in moments of clarity. She was not about to dump her 15 years since childhood soulmate for a random kid she just met and he was not gonna go for the girl who was majorly responsible for that major accident that he's put his blood and tears into investigating. Their relationship in the last 3 episodes was one of the best parts of the show, they care for each other as two kids who bonded through trauma but they also let each other know they got important shit to fight for and protect even if it means harming each other. That is just beautiful and for people here to mistake it for a stupid love triangle is sad.
All this rich shit isn't really over the top, if kids like me drank and partied every other week in high school and iam from a middle class family iam pretty sure a girl whos daily allowance can shoulder a family of 10 will get into parties like that, and there'll be alcohol and drugs it really is not that weird. The kids are pretentious though, rightfully....i mean who wouldn't if u showed up to school in a fucking Maybach owned several super cars and had school club activities that costed 30 thousand dollars to take part in AS A KID
All in all everything is done right, but nothing is done great. The acting was mediocre, the plot was decent, the characters were hit or miss, the production/direction/art was absolutely fantastic....the cinematographers were in their BAG.
Extremely appealing show on the eye and the ear, you go in for a fun time but you're not leaving with anything memorable. a perfect 7.5... 8 cause the actors are so beautiful, seriously Roh Jeong Eui I could not stop staring ma'am god bless you., Kim jae won too that's one handsome bastard.
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