Cheer Up is a drama that I am so glad I finished despite the negative reviews and the several setbacks. I initially dropped this mid first-episode but picked it up again out of boredom and as an attempt to get out of my kdrama-watching slump, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

STORY - 7.5/10

The main themes of Cheer Up are youth, romance and friendship. In those aspects, Cheer Up portrayed these concepts very well. Though the exposure we get to this story was not something that immediately caught my attention, the writing and the strong foundations of the relationships between characters, romantic, platonic and familial, how they developed and how the story progressed definitely kept my attention. The mystery aspect was interesting, and I liked how they tried to make it as unpredictable as possible – they would pin obvious suspects that would make us think certain characters were the culprit, when in fact all of them were wrong. There were plenty of twists and turns that, unlike a lot of other mystery plotlines in other romance dramas, felt like they were planned from the beginning, and I enjoyed how everything started to tie in together perfectly.

I enjoyed the main romance and how it developed. It felt so natural to me, in all of its mess and constant turns, in Haeyi’s constant confusion and Jungwoo’s reluctance. And I love, love the dialogue towards the end where Jungwoo tells Haeyi that she shouldn’t suffer alone. “Two is better than one.” It really defined the way I perceive their love for each other; the kind that perseveres, the kind that heals, and most importantly, the kind that holds your hand through even and especially the most difficult of days.

The friendship and the found family dynamic formed within Theia was something that also really stuck with me. I love found family dynamics – in fact, it’s a running theme in almost all my favourite media – and the one formed here definitely did not disappoint. I loved that they didn’t just focus on the romance and also placed importance on the friendships and comradery between the characters. It was extremely heartwarming as well as necessary for us, the viewers, to get a full scope of how much they’ve grown closer as a team.

I loved the ending. It was so beautifully done, and it definitely touched my heart. I loved the side couples, even though it funnily enough felt like a case of “pairing the spares”, I love that they at least built up enough chemistry to make me root for them. My favourite side couple had to be Minjae (who I felt was let off the hook too easily for what he did, but it is what it is) and Sunja. They were so cute, and I wish they had more screen time to fully delve into their development as a pairing. Also, am I the only one who caught the nicknames they gave each other? Sun and Min-min? They’re adorable.

Now, my main issue with the drama’s storyline is something everyone else has been complaining about. And that, you guessed it, is the love triangle. I don’t particularly care for love triangles anymore, but this one really took the cake. In fact, the love triangle was the very thing that made it difficult for me to continue, especially when Junho was at his worst. Let it be known that I did NOT like Junho, though he is definitely an interesting and complex character, just like the FL and ML, and has room to mature. He had no awareness of boundaries, even when Haeyi rejected him properly and indirectly countless times. Since the beginning, he was only chasing after her relentlessly because he couldn’t get over the fact that she was the only girl he couldn’t win over – then after the rejections, the fact that she lay out her baggage and the reasons she couldn’t like him back, he falls even more in love with her. It’s insane, and it ruined a drama I would’ve rated even higher if not for the frustrating dynamic he added onto the show.

Alongside this, there were a lot of plot holes in the mystery part of the story that I didn’t quite understand. A lot of things either didn’t add up or weren’t properly explained, when I wish they were. However, they weren’t bad enough to ultimately deter my experience watching this show further than it already had.

Overall, I feel like the strength of Cheer Up were its characters. Which makes sense, as once again, it ties in with the core themes of the show.

ACTING/CAST - 9/10

Han Jihyun and Bae Inhyuk absolutely pulled off their respective roles. The last I saw of Inhyuk was in My Roommate is a Gumiho, where he played a second male lead eerily similar (and just as annoying) as Sunho. However, I loved how he allowed a character like Jungwoo (who seldom allowed himself emotion) an ample amount of complexity to understand who he was as a person. In fact, I think if it weren’t for how well he played Jungwoo, he wouldn’t have become one of my favorite MLs in kdramas yet.

As for Han Jihyun, her acting was 100% my favorite out of all the other characters in the show, perhaps mainly because of her role as the protagonist. I love how diverse she can be in her facial expressions, and played the role of Haeyi perfectly.

I have nothing to say for the rest of the cast, as they all pulled it off perfectly. I hope Kim Hyunjin goes through the rite of passage and gets casted as a good ML just like Bae Inhyuk did, LOL. He acted very well.

MUSIC - 8/10

Most songs, mainly the cheer songs, are iconic and memorable, considering music is one of the integral aspects to what they do as a cheer squad. ‘Higher’ is still stuck in my head.

REWATCH VALUE - 6/10

I’m going to be honest, the love triangle focused episodes were already a struggle to get through. I felt like punching the screen because of how much the stupidity bothered me. Definitely wouldn’t want to go through that again, but I would love to relive the cute Jungwoo and Haeyi scenes again.

OVERALL - 8.5/10

A drama that was worth it all despite its imperfections. Definitely for people who’re looking for something to get invested in, both in a good and a bad way.