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The Clickbait
Little Women is a Korean Thriller Drama adapted from the novel "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, until it wasn’t.
Before reviewing the drama itself, I will try to define this matter without spoiling anything from the novel and the drama.
~Novel & Drama Comparison~
The novel revolves around the life of 4 sisters from a poor family. Each of them has her own personality, flaws, charms, worries and dreams, creating her own path in life. All of them together create a chaotic & dynamic companionship filled with many happy, sad, comforting but above all, sisterhood moments. The novel is set in the 1860s, but the core of its story is timeless. Thus, whatever changes plot wise, as long as the adaptation stays true to the original story’s vibes, it will successfully deliver the original message.
But this particular adaptation, despite having Little Women’s family tree (kind of), has nothing else in common with the novel. It’s a pure Makjang with a completely independent story, which is not even slightly inspired from the novel as its conflict between poor and rich is the most common theme in Makjang. It looks like the writers had a story already planned in mind and used the novel as a reference in order to promote it.
The Drama production should have mentioned the novel only for copyright purposes and of course, they should have used a different title. The fact that they didn’t, was a foul move which makes the drama a clickbait, something I personally can’t ignore.
I’d advise you to not start the drama thinking it is a modern retelling of Little Women. Think of the drama as another Makjang and don’t get scammed by the drama’s sly marketing. This way, you will enjoy the drama, or not, but at least the reason of deciding to watch Little Women will be sincere.
~The Story~
So where to start and where to finish with that chaotic mess which is called "story"? Ι have many issues with it and to set the record straight, the drama not being actually a modern adaptation of Little Women didn’t affect the story’s rating more than 1 point in my books.
~Main theme & escalation
Little Women consists of 12 episodes and its story is actually very fast paced as a lot of things are happening in a very short amount of time. The first 2 episodes gave the drama a very promising start while they set a thrillery and mysterious aura around the main characters. Also, the sisters were presented having different personalities and problems, that could be explored through the story. But unfortunately all these didn't last long.
As the story escalated, it turned into a vendetta between the poor sisters and the wealthiest family in the nation. And that’s all folks, nothing else is going to happen except from a series of unfortunate plot twists alongside stupid actions (and some plot holes, because why not?).
In the name of suspense and uprediction the writer made a story with more ups and downs than a harmonic oscillation diagram. The result of it was two, 1) to make an unfocused story with an unclear goal from the writer's perspective which couldn't lead to any conclusion 2) to make the story complicated and confusing without any specific reason. In addition, the story consisted of some fiction elements which made it even more unrealistic and far-fetched.
The climax of the above was the final act, the last 2 episodes. As the story was processing it got messier and messier to the point that there wasn't any way for the story to reach an epilogue. So, what happened? A plot twist coming straight from the Neverland worked as Deus ex machina and saved the day with the most simple and canceling way possible.
~The Characters
Even though at first it seemed that the Sisters were well written characters, they weren't. Generally, the drama was very plot driven (not that it had a certain plot as I said but anyway) so actually none of the characters had any space to grow and develop. Oh In Joo, the main character from the sisters, was bound to be naive girl who loves money, her sisters and making stupid decitions. Oh In Kyung was supposed to be the cleverest sister but oh well, at least she tried. The little sister Oh In Hye could draw, that's it, she was a moving puppet during the whole drama.
The flatness of the main heroines didn't bother me so much though. What frustrated me most was the poor reference to the phenomenon of alcoholism which is a very serious matter that can't be portrayed in a drama as lightly as it was portrayed in Little Women. The story had the easiest solution to alcohol addiction: just to forget that it was ever mentioned in the previous episodes. This just proves how much the writer cared about giving the drama a decent story and an ending that would respect the time which viewers had spent on it.
~The Production~
Production wise, Little Women is masterfully made. From visuals to music, to styling, to framing and directing, Little Women is one of the most exceptional Korean productions I have ever witnessed till now. Thus the drama was very captivating and putting aside the plot, very enjoyable to watch. But if you care the slightest about the plot, the drama felt like a present with extraordinarily beautiful wrapping which was empty inside.
~Conclusion~
Well, Little Women is not a drama that I would recommend in general as I believe the story doesn't have anything to offer. I tend to ignore things that bother me in the stories, trying to find the meaning behind everything the writer wanted to do and tell through their story, but Little Women hit me under the belt countless times, so in the end, I couldn't ignore any of these triggers.
On the other hand, if you are willing to turn off your brain and enjoy the view, maybe Little Women can be an enjoyable and visually beautiful ride for you, as it was from the eyes of many other people who watched it.
Before reviewing the drama itself, I will try to define this matter without spoiling anything from the novel and the drama.
~Novel & Drama Comparison~
The novel revolves around the life of 4 sisters from a poor family. Each of them has her own personality, flaws, charms, worries and dreams, creating her own path in life. All of them together create a chaotic & dynamic companionship filled with many happy, sad, comforting but above all, sisterhood moments. The novel is set in the 1860s, but the core of its story is timeless. Thus, whatever changes plot wise, as long as the adaptation stays true to the original story’s vibes, it will successfully deliver the original message.
But this particular adaptation, despite having Little Women’s family tree (kind of), has nothing else in common with the novel. It’s a pure Makjang with a completely independent story, which is not even slightly inspired from the novel as its conflict between poor and rich is the most common theme in Makjang. It looks like the writers had a story already planned in mind and used the novel as a reference in order to promote it.
The Drama production should have mentioned the novel only for copyright purposes and of course, they should have used a different title. The fact that they didn’t, was a foul move which makes the drama a clickbait, something I personally can’t ignore.
I’d advise you to not start the drama thinking it is a modern retelling of Little Women. Think of the drama as another Makjang and don’t get scammed by the drama’s sly marketing. This way, you will enjoy the drama, or not, but at least the reason of deciding to watch Little Women will be sincere.
~The Story~
So where to start and where to finish with that chaotic mess which is called "story"? Ι have many issues with it and to set the record straight, the drama not being actually a modern adaptation of Little Women didn’t affect the story’s rating more than 1 point in my books.
~Main theme & escalation
Little Women consists of 12 episodes and its story is actually very fast paced as a lot of things are happening in a very short amount of time. The first 2 episodes gave the drama a very promising start while they set a thrillery and mysterious aura around the main characters. Also, the sisters were presented having different personalities and problems, that could be explored through the story. But unfortunately all these didn't last long.
As the story escalated, it turned into a vendetta between the poor sisters and the wealthiest family in the nation. And that’s all folks, nothing else is going to happen except from a series of unfortunate plot twists alongside stupid actions (and some plot holes, because why not?).
In the name of suspense and uprediction the writer made a story with more ups and downs than a harmonic oscillation diagram. The result of it was two, 1) to make an unfocused story with an unclear goal from the writer's perspective which couldn't lead to any conclusion 2) to make the story complicated and confusing without any specific reason. In addition, the story consisted of some fiction elements which made it even more unrealistic and far-fetched.
The climax of the above was the final act, the last 2 episodes. As the story was processing it got messier and messier to the point that there wasn't any way for the story to reach an epilogue. So, what happened? A plot twist coming straight from the Neverland worked as Deus ex machina and saved the day with the most simple and canceling way possible.
~The Characters
Even though at first it seemed that the Sisters were well written characters, they weren't. Generally, the drama was very plot driven (not that it had a certain plot as I said but anyway) so actually none of the characters had any space to grow and develop. Oh In Joo, the main character from the sisters, was bound to be naive girl who loves money, her sisters and making stupid decitions. Oh In Kyung was supposed to be the cleverest sister but oh well, at least she tried. The little sister Oh In Hye could draw, that's it, she was a moving puppet during the whole drama.
The flatness of the main heroines didn't bother me so much though. What frustrated me most was the poor reference to the phenomenon of alcoholism which is a very serious matter that can't be portrayed in a drama as lightly as it was portrayed in Little Women. The story had the easiest solution to alcohol addiction: just to forget that it was ever mentioned in the previous episodes. This just proves how much the writer cared about giving the drama a decent story and an ending that would respect the time which viewers had spent on it.
~The Production~
Production wise, Little Women is masterfully made. From visuals to music, to styling, to framing and directing, Little Women is one of the most exceptional Korean productions I have ever witnessed till now. Thus the drama was very captivating and putting aside the plot, very enjoyable to watch. But if you care the slightest about the plot, the drama felt like a present with extraordinarily beautiful wrapping which was empty inside.
~Conclusion~
Well, Little Women is not a drama that I would recommend in general as I believe the story doesn't have anything to offer. I tend to ignore things that bother me in the stories, trying to find the meaning behind everything the writer wanted to do and tell through their story, but Little Women hit me under the belt countless times, so in the end, I couldn't ignore any of these triggers.
On the other hand, if you are willing to turn off your brain and enjoy the view, maybe Little Women can be an enjoyable and visually beautiful ride for you, as it was from the eyes of many other people who watched it.
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