These dramas just give me the same vibe. Both of the male leads have a mysterious past that continues to haunt them. Both dramas have political maneuvering in which the male leads are used as pawns in plays for power. And SADLY both dramas have female leads that have like ZERO personality, are REALLY annoying and basically sabotage a drama that could have been a lot better with a competent, likeable female lead.
School 2017 is *A LOT* better than True Beauty, and it kinda seems like True Beauty copied so many things like:
1) the two male leads used to be best friends, but then their other friend died and they each blamed each other and were hurting so they acted like they hated each other and also they had a keepsake from their friendship (bracelet/watch)
2) relationship between timid home room teacher and more assertive female character (the cop/jukyungs older sister)
3) female leads family: has money problems due to father who gets scammed and the brother characters act similarly in each drama
4) both dramas have a hidden identity aspect
5) both dramas have an antagonist character who’s the second rank in the school and who’s parent put a ton of pressure on them to beat the first rank (and the first ranked student is one of the male leads)
1) the two male leads used to be best friends, but then their other friend died and they each blamed each other and were hurting so they acted like they hated each other and also they had a keepsake from their friendship (bracelet/watch)
2) relationship between timid home room teacher and more assertive female character (the cop/jukyungs older sister)
3) female leads family: has money problems due to father who gets scammed and the brother characters act similarly in each drama
4) both dramas have a hidden identity aspect
5) both dramas have an antagonist character who’s the second rank in the school and who’s parent put a ton of pressure on them to beat the first rank (and the first ranked student is one of the male leads)
Both dramas deal with corruption and feature a young man who investigates that corruption because their father was framed for murder. In both dramas the young main lead is joined by an older male cop who was the officer that arrested his father, an older woman who has a traumatic connection to the case and a young woman with whom he is friends to form a team. Neither dramas have romance and both have actors that I LOVE ;) @ Lee Junho and Seo Kang Joon. I prefer WATCHER to Confession, but both dramas are worth viewing, especially if you are a fan of this genre.
My Country is a lot more of a tragedy, however, there were similar plot points such as a gisaeng house that is *more* than it appears (spies/assassins), a fight for the throne and I think that Nokdu and Hwi (main character in My Country) were very similar characters. Also Woo Do Hwan as Seon Ho (in My Country) is literally INCREDIBLE, so I would recommend this drama based on his performance alone anyway.