Reviews

Stop justifying crime

Such a bad plot , doesn't make any sense,he rapes her,he insults her ,he does everything what a real man would never do and here unlike others there is no repentance and no guilt at all and the female main lead is ok with everything which no women would never be.what are trying to show ?rape is a crime and he should be legally punished we are in times where discussions are going on for penalizing marital rapes and they are showing such things which are a very bad influence if can't give a good message atleast stop defending and justifying crimes if someone does something to a girl its solely his mistake no need to blame anyone else

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Lost focus

I started out really enjoying this drama and I couldn't wait to see where the story would lead. However, somewhere along the lines I lost interest. I started finding things characters did annoying and I was over all the lying and hiding the characters were doing. One of the reasons I kept watching was because Kim Min Gue and the second lead couple. They really weren't given a proper send-off in the finale.

I will say, this drama felt both too long and not long enough. We spent so much time running around the issue that it got tiresome and then the writers realised they only had 12 episodes and rushed everything in the end. It could have been better planned out. Additionally, towards the end some of the characters were acting a bit OOC, particularly the Grandpa. I mean I get he was angry, understandably so, BUT he spent the entire time wishing he would get married I would think that would make up for it. i also found him incredibly mean to Ha-ri. Idk, things could have been done better.

I guess that's all I have to say on this one... it was fun until a certain point and then it was just disappointing.

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Waste of a good potential.

This is the first time I'm rating so low a series. Like really. Can't believe the MDL score it up to 8.0, fans of Sehun are really eating up everything this guy does.

Really average, barely decent series. The thing is that overall it's an action mini-series but everything was lacking.

The script is bad, I don't understand where the writers were going. The production and filming was horrendous, I mean it looked like a filming project series done by students. The camera and shots were shaking. Not to mention the acting, really lacking here, whether in all the characters or their lines. It was just plain bad.
The fighting choreographies were quite good but so slow, it was obvious that it was acting.

No, really this kind of series is really the opposite of what anyone wants to produce these days.

Honestly, "Weak Hero" tackles the same topics of bullying and school better, but overall "Weak Hero" in terms of production and writing is so much better, and I can't even imagine when we get season 2, who will do the delve into school gangs, what here "Dokgo Rewind" tried to do but ultimately, failed.

I do not recommend, a waste of time.

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A sad & highly topical social issue, dealt with in a palpable, exciting, sensitive, touching way

"Revenge of Others" is set in the world of South Korean high school students. No teenage squabble, but a story with substance and depth. With flexibly intertwined subplots, it offers a sad and highly topical social issue, dealing with it in a palpable, exciting, sensitive and touching way. Should you watch? Yes!

"Revenge of Others" (like "Weak Hero Class 1" in 2022) deals with the topic of mobbing /bullying. In Korean, the slang term 'wang-ta' is quite common, and for me helped for a better understanding of the special and increasingly dramatic situation surrounding bullying at South Korean schools, which can even lead to suicide. (See side note below.)

This KDrama spotlights a Seoul high school where there appears to have happened a suicide. Everyone is shocked. Some know more. But if the sister of the victim, who has been living separated from her brother for many years, would not try to get to the bottom of it, then this would be a sad case of suicide without a murmur. It probably happens all too often in one way or another that fundamental questions in an apparently obvious case are left unanswered. However, this KDrama bravely wants to get to the bottom of the matter and its circumstances - here in the person of Ok Chang-mi.

As so often in the context of bullying, the adults don't look too good and don´t offer anything promising for making a difference regarding those fatal peer group dynamics. They are left outside. The high school students have to find a way for themselves to get along with their classmates - if possible highly adjusted underneath the social wang-ta radar (or at least with a solid network).

"Revenge of Others" is a production for the international streaming market. Things rarely get too brutal at Disney, though. The amount of violence is therefore limited (compared to e.g. "Weak Hero Class 1") and instead there is more room for relationship dynamics in side plots, causal connections and shades of gray.

By the way, in connection with "Revenge of Others" there is also a whole series of promising actors to admire!



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SIDE NOTE: --- Wang-ta in South Korea ----

With Wang-ta, the focus is not so much on the 'act' - bullying or harassment - but rather on the entire context of active and violent marginalizatin of an outsider. For example, it can be used as a swear word for the excluded person or as a description of the bullying activity. In a collectivist society like South Korea, group affiliation and group interest is paramount. This applies not only to the family, but also to the school class and also to the peer groups within the class or school. Unfortunately, this value system results in a fatal situation when it comes to actual bullying: bringing shame on the group, the outsiders are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Whether it's because of school performance, family background, origin, belonging to an undesirable minority, looks, dress, a handicap, an unusual belief or an abnormal inclination: Wang-ta is a label that no one wants to personally be confronted with. Everyone agrees on that. At the same time, Wang-ta becomes a free pass for more or less cruel mobbing/bullying. Worryingly, perpetrators, victims, and witnesses alike accept the premise: all forms of bullying, almost anything related to Wang-ta, is permissible. The perpetrators take advantage of this, the victims immediately feel even more inferior in terms of their shortcomings (of whatever kind), and the bystanders silently nod the action as justified - or even actively join in. There is no moral barrier against this specifically cultural, collectivist background. It can even get out of hand. There are cases where the entire school has ended up participating in one person's wang-ta. From a Western, individualistic point of view, this is perhaps difficult to understand, because apart from group norms there are other socially recognized ethical principles that could be introduced as a serious confrontation of wang-ta behavior. Unfortunately, this hardly is the case at South Korean schools with a collectivistic social culture.



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SIDE NOTE: In connection with this KDRama also an additional side note on
--- Punishment vs. Suffering of Victims ---

The psychological trauma for the bullying victims are with long-lasting effect. Unfortunately, the punishment of perpetrators is not proportionate to this day. Punishment is rather harmless - it may be annoying to the perpetrators, but not really a deterrent. Far too much must have happened before expulsion actually occurs. A corresponding entry in the files is actually completely deleted two years after graduation. In fact, nothing is left behind on the perpetrators' side. On the other hand, from the memory of the victims the experience cannot be so easily erased ...

The documented cases of wang-ta in South Korean schools (yet many are not officially reported) have steadily increased over the past three decades. According to a study by the Ministry of Education, between 2013 and 2017 the cases have more than doubled from 11.749 to 31.130. There are also increasing numbers of victims who saw suicide as their only way out. It has now been empirically documented that South Korean pupils with a personal Wang-ta experience are more suicidal than those without. Suicide is by far the most common cause of death among 10 to 24 year olds. Almost 1.000 young people took their own lives in 2020 alone.

In respect of the lack of serious consequences for the perpetrators in Wang-ta cases and their comparatively unsatisfactory punishment, a kind of vigilante justice has been established among the families of the victims concerned. "Revenge of Others" picks up on this (similar to "Angry Mom" ​​a few years earlier) as a theme in variation.
In fact, facing a lack of serious alternative punitive measures it seems not uncommon for relatives of victims to pay someone of the same school age to take care of an appropriate 'punishment' - i.e. 'undercover'. Clearing up violence with violence is of course a dubious solution. Sadly, this seems to be the only way to show real consequences to the perpetrators and give the victims at least minimum size satisfaction. ...Although it should be probably considered more of a satisfaction for the relatives of the victims, because the victims themselves still have to deal with their psychological wounds and scars for a long time. Revenge does not undo the painful experience of mentally and physically harassing exclusion...

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Psychological Drama disguised as a BL

This series was incredible. I couldn't even classify it as a BL. That wasn't the purpose of it. It wasn't a romance. This series was a psychological dark fiction drama. It took the BL industry and peeled back its skin and showed the truth. From the fans, to the managers, to the actors, to the writers, the producers, the directors, they showed it all. They took four stories and gave us a real look at what the industry does to people, and what the people do to the industry. The ugly truth and the twisted beauty in that truth. While doing all that they gave us incredible in depth characters and storylines, making us all the more invested, making it feel all the more real. Through the characters we watched love, revenge, betrayal, bribery, manipulation, trauma, passion, fear and desire. It gives you chills. I haven't felt this passionate writing a review for a series in a long time. It truly blew me away.

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Some loves aren't meant to be forever

This drama is definitely a mixed bag for me. For one, I loved the relationships between the characters, particularly the friendships, and I LOVED how they showed that this love is equally as important as romantic love. I'm a big friendship girlie, particularly female ones so this was such a treat. I won't be smack talking about the ending because I still don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, I definitely understand why they did it but I just felt like they shouldn't have left it for the last episodes and instead made it a bit more gradual. What I really didn't like was the dual timelines. Going from the 90s storyline to present time was jarring and I honestly felt that it took away from the "progress" we had in the 90s one, I honestly saw no need for it. Lastly, they introduced some ideas with Ji Seung Wan that weren't ever fully developed, which was a bit of a let down. Overall, I truly did enjoy the drama.

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What happens when 2 toxic people like each other?

This series certainly doesn't answer that question. It is a convoluted mess of multiple characters all concerned about just one goal and that is to get the 2 leads to be in a relationship. The story line had so much potential but the writer just couldn't understand what to do with the 2 toxic leads and just added multiple characters with no other motivation but to hope and pray that these 2 seriously broken people fall in love.
To summarize, the story, is about two playboys who meet and decide to be friends with benefits. But the first lead (Fahlan) can't help himself from being jealous, become a push-over and get punched and slapped multiple times. Next we have Sherbert, who can't stop himself from fighting with Fahlan over everything, cry, drink, forgive Fahlan, have sex, rinse and repeat.
And then you have a wide variety of supportive characters who only talk about what Fah and Sher are doing. "Are they together? Have they broken-up? " OMG! find a hobby. So many characters have been introduced that you cant keep pace with what is happening. Fah's 2 friends, Sher's twin brother and his lover interest, and his half-brother, Sher's best friend and his love interest, a fujoshi and her love interest and other random set of characters that dont play any role in furthering the story. Instead they just tell you what you have already seen.
The strangest thing that I have seen in this series is the amount of time these characters go to eat or drink. In fact they just eat, talk, fight and drink and go back to eating. You can righfully call the food and drinks as supportive characters for how often its on screen and being talked about.
In conclusion, take heed from all the other reviews and either skip this series or watch it using the fast forward button like I did.

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@ mobbing, friendship, class culture and reflecting moral behavior among 6th grade pupils. Great!

"The Queen's Classroom" is a dramaturgically fascinating story about kids at a South Korean elementary school, shortly before their transition to middle school. The young actors are fantastic. Likewise the adults. At the same time, it is a nuanced, clever study of bullying from 2013. I appreciate this series very much because it not only shows THAT there are enormous social problems with an increasingly traumatizing marginalization of young students, but also how/that the school, i.e. the teachers, can contribute in a creative, constructive, pedagogically valuable way, and thus counteract the trend. For this reason alone, "The Queen's Classroom" is worth seeing. In addition, the KDrama tells a wonderful story about the idea of friendship - about how the mere concept and label 'friendship' becomes a real, three-dimensional relationship with a solid grounding. Fabulous.

The unique approach is a focus on the age between elementary and middle school - a phase that is crucial in the development of personality, e.g. for the cognitive development with regard to the moral assessment of situations, the ability to change perspective and a differentiated understanding of moral values. Eventually, the moral assessment of mobbing/bullying is the crucial first step in order to seriously counteract the ominous trend. This aspect is a characteristic problem in South Korean schools. (See side note below.)

In the case of "The Queen's Classroom", the homeroom teacher sets important impulses for the personal processes of individual pupils and the class as a whole with quite idiosyncratic, (of course also dramaturgically effective), provocative pedagogical methods. The aim is to use paradoxical intervention in order to trigger more profound emotional and cognitive processes, so that the students can move from the sometimes naive surface of their beliefs to their true, genuine core. On this basis only can they then stand their by all means noble, idealistic convictions powerfully and authentically against adverse circumstances. Personal processes can often be a bit painful, as is the case here. However, the result is quite spectacular for the individuals and for the class as a whole, too. It could/should be something like this or something similar, it HAS to be if the increasing trend of bullying in schools is to change.

Chapeau! "The Queen's Classroom" is boldly leading the way as a small but mighty pioneer in the KDrama world. To be fair, the KDrama is based on a Japanese production. Since the social problem is similar there, it is not surprising. In any case, the Korean remake didn't do any harm... Despite all the emotional seriousness, it's a great pleasure to accompany the kids on their bumpy road.








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SIDE NOTE: --- Wang-ta - Bullying in a collectivistic society, like South Korea ---


While 'mobbing', strictly speaking, refers to psychological terror or physical violence by a group, 'bullying' describes the harassment itself, regardless of how many people take part in it. However, the choice of term does not change the fact that far too many students are involved - be it as victims, as perpetrators or as spectators/witnesses. This is an international phenomenon, with more or less extreme manifestations. There is peculiarity in South Korea, though: collectivism (vs. Western individualism). When the welfare of the collective has the highest priority, it means that the interests of the individual are subordinated to those of the associated social group - be it family, work, school, class, club, friends, etc. Peer pressure also exists in individualistic Societies, true enough, but in collectivism it has an even stronger impact. This should not be underestimated when dealing with the topic of mobbing/bullying.

'Wang-ta' is a specific, common South Korean slang term that is used in connection with and in dealing with a person who is not part of the group. One becomes an outsider very quickly, wearing the wrong clothes, having the wrong interests or preferences, belonging to the wrong group or to no group, having poor, stigmatized or less influential parents, living in the wrong family constellation or only achieving bad grades. However, this label commonly implies (in collectivist society) that it socially 'is allowed' to devalue and harass this person for being an outsider. When group norms are thus strong, such exclusion based on appearance, lack of achievement, special preferences, etc. can have particularly fatal consequences. Those experiencing 'Wang-ta' first hand, may lack the chance of getting rid of this label again.
- Those who 'choose' the victim are hardly aware of any guilt, since they are convinced, that they are rightly criticizing a deviation from the set norm.
- The other peers will thus avoid the stigmatized pupil and assume that there is something to it, so that the label (and exclusion) is justified.
- And those labeled ´wang-ta´ will only withdraw even further, ashamed of their 'apparent' lack, and feel even more inferior, than they might already do.

Empirical studies in 1998 ff with pupils from European or American countries (with individualistic socialization) showed, that in 85 percent of bullying cases peers were involved as bystanders. Of those, only 11 percent eventually intervened. Unfortunately, I don't have any comparable South Korean numbers, neither from then nor from today. However, I probably don't lean too far out of the window when I suspect that there are significantly less, who would actively intervene.
In the course of further international studies it was possible to prove that intervention by peers is, however, an essential first step towards change. Active intervention on-site in the middle of the situation triggers a (moral) debate among the peers about the situation in the first place. As long as there are only passive, tolerating bystanders, the act is socially approved and its justification defacto confirmed.

There are South Korean studies that show: although the majority of the pupils interviewed do not like bullying, at the same time they also believe that it is inevitable. In fact, they assume, that the victims in general deserve to be punished because of their (self-inflicted) being an outsider.

The peer group has the greatest influence during the school years from late elementary school to high school. At the same time, this is the phase in which generosity in dealing with diversity can and must be learned as an essential social value. If such a value is not socially recognized at that time, then young people will not be able to integrate it into their further lives, let alone apply it. This is the painful crux of the issue of "wang-ta" in South Korean schools (or later in the workplace): generosity in dealing with diversity has no tradition, no culture, no socially recognized value on the peninsula. If you want to change the school bullying trend, then you have to start here. I.e. as a teacher in elementary and middle school, opening up spaces for experience with tolerance and thus creating the opportunity for a new culture of social interaction. A confident class culture that explicitly acknowledges diversity, that socially and openly and explicitly questions wang-ta as a social option, can form the fertile breeding ground for fundamental societal changes that leave more room for individuality. In the face of an ever-approaching, globally networked world, this is becoming increasingly necessary in order to create the personal and social balancing act of a hybrid between traditional and global, between collectivistic and individualistic.

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Simply put, it's good

Sure, there are some flaws, but they are minor. For the most part, the leads have a healthy relationship and they really give a sense of facing troubles together yet also respect and support individual pursuits and decisions. The court battles are only shown when they influence the leads' lives and relationships. All other political struggles are only mentioned in passing and that too only if they are relevant to the story.

Only the actions by characters considered main, i.e, ML, FL, other 2 FLs and that other guy who is kinda SML, since I don't know what else to call him, are shown in clarity. Meaning, the other characters' (ministers, officials, businessmen, etc.) actions and the reason/logic behind them, are generally left to be judged by viewers as they wish. I've seen the subtle behind the scenes in dramas before too and I think I like it. But the thing is, remember I said, "for the most part" and "minor flaws", I think the reason for that might be, leaving too many things in the dark can sometimes seem like a dramatic and compelling scene has a weak logic behind it. Or sometimes, the emphasis on subtlety, can even result in a scene not being compelling enough in the first place. But this is only if you want to over analyse stuff. Otherwise, like I said. Minor.

Some beautiful shots and scenes, very good acting, you can just tell that the main couple are fond of each other. Great sismance. The ladies strike out at first, with relationships, with life. But they find a way to stand on their own, they trust people, face consequences either good or bad, make friends and enemies, both individually and while together, fight amongst themselves too sometimes but spoiler ending, they still get back to sticking with each other <3

Another thing, there's no extreme evil being done or was done, (yes, I'm being vague, but if you get it, you get it) like is generally in many historical cdramas that focus on politics, or even personal vengeances.

Overall, pleasant drama.

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Believe In Your Dreams

The fictional idol making company, Starpeace Entertainment, demonstrates painfully how a bad, neglectful, and incompetent record label will destroy the career of aspiring talent. This almost criminally underappreciated Idol drama serves as a dazzling introduction, for the uninitiated, to the wonderful talents of real life idols: Exy , Hani and Sol-bin. While the script is flawed and falters at times, there are some outstanding drama and music scenes with the aforementioned trio of idols that really standout.Idol:The Coup has been a ratings disappointment, ironically mirroring the failure of its fictional idol group Cotton Candy. This drama may ultimately be vindicated, achieving cult classic status with the passage of time as more viewers discover it.

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Boring

Blue of Winter may as well rename itself to the most 'Boring of Winters', with their 8-10 minute episodes feeling like feature-film length with how slow and uneventful it was. I always say to myself that the worse thing a drama can be is boring, and unfortunately, this is one of those dramas. Thankfully however, there were glimpses of potential, and when there was something that caught my full attention, I really liked it. For example, the last episode was really good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If I had enjoyed more episodes like I had with the last episode, this review would look way more positive. There was also a pretty good OST present and I did like the little attention to detail for a few things that I have not seen with big budget dramas so far yet.

Main negatives would be the acting, dialogue, directing, camera work, sound directing. I understand that this was probably done on a small and tight budget, but it was hard not to notice these things in my eyes. I don't really like to dive into detail on the negatives unless I am angry at something a drama has done to me, after all, other human beings made this.

Would I recommend it? Well, the reason I tried this was because it has the 'sports' genre on it's page. For fellow sports drama lovers, I would not recommend this. There was not much sport. For people into romance? I'd say... probably not, only try it out if there really isn't anything else you fancy.

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An Entierly Different Show, And Not For The Better

Let me start by saying Ever Night season 1 was and still is my favorite wuxia drama of all time. I've never been more disappointed and let down by a season 2. If this didn't have the name "Ever Night" on it and Irenie Song, I would have dropped this after a few episodes.

I don't know what happened between seasons 1 and 2, maybe it was cost issues, or investors/sponsors pushing them to finish fast and cheap, maybe there wasn't enough story to tell to fill a season 2, or filming schedules and conflicts and having to replace a significant amount of the cast, maybe the censors and govt got involved to change the story... I have no idea. All I know is season 2 is like an entirely different show, and not for the better.

First of all, the recasting of the ML with Dylan Wang. This was a jarring choice. He is a very different actor from Chen Fei Yu and therefore a very different character from season 1. This dramatic change could have been minimized had they kept the same production style and feel from the first season. Even if they just kept the same storylines and plot from season 1, Dylan Wang could have eventually made a decent run with his own version of Ning Que, but neither of those was left intact.

Those weren't the only changes. Gone is the lush and cinematic camerawork from season 1. That vast and expansive world full of interesting locations and eclectic characters they built up in the previous season? Gone. Now we only have a few characters and are limited to a few locations, often only seen in small sets. Remember those dynamic and exhilarating fight scenes? Those are gone too. Now we have generic wuxia from the 90's style, with cheap-looking VFX.

Not to mention a significant portion of the cast, several of them major players from season 1 were recast. Not only were the actors different but their character's personalities changed as well. Even the actors they managed to keep from season 1 behave like they're from some bizarre alternate universe. I think this leads to the biggest issue of Ever Night season 2: the writing. The writing is atrocious. I honestly feel bad for the actors. It's as if the writers wrote out all the dialogue of what needed to be said, then randomly distributed the lines to different characters. They aren't saying things the characters would say, they're just reading lines. Not only is the dialogue noncorporeal, awkward and unusual, but they also use this terrible dialogue to fill long and drawn-out scenes, often shot in a small 1 room set with just 2 actors spewing exposition at each other, most of it full of unnecessary or repeated information that does nothing to move the plot forward. There were many episodes full of them with just scene after scene of 2 people in a room talking about nothing. I get that this is a cost-saving measure and a tool to stretch a thin plot but this was painfully dull and excruciating to get through. This basically takes up 60-70% of season 2 so brace yourself.

The overall plot also falls victim to odd and nonsensical choices. Characters do things completely out of character, sometimes even with no explainable motivation. They just do things abruptly without reason. Instances happen just to happen. There's an entire arc of 5-10 episodes that could be completely taken out without any consequence to the characters or story. It's like some useless side quest in a game. And the decision to spend a large amount of time with an entirely new actor and character is questionable. Spending long stretches of the season with the ML and FL apart from each other is baffling. Not continuing any of the previously set-up storylines from season 1 and giving us ridiculous narratives that don't go anywhere? Ludicrous. I could say more but that would wander into spoiler territory. I think you get the idea.

I hate to be entirely negative so let me highlight what I did like. Ireine Song. I could watch her watch paint dry. She is the lone saving grace to this travesty of a dumpster fire. She has such range as an actress that there were times when I almost forgot about the shoddy backdrops and painful dialogue and just watched her stretch her acting wings. Season 2 definitely gives her more to do and there is a decided focus on her character. I also warmed up to Dylan Wang's alternate version of Ning Que, which is why I think they could've salvaged season 2 had they kept the preexisting storylines from season 1.

Luckily for those who loved the previous season, Ever Night season 1 stands well on its own. We can just throw this bizzaro alternate universe season 2 straight into the garbage and appreciate what we got in season 1.

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TOXIC

I so look forward to this drama ... but dam i was not expecting the toxic abuse that it going portray.
What I imagined was a slightly adult drama. What I got was a hot mess and not in a good way. Dark yes, but, again, not in a good way, actually very problematic. Not gritty and not adult, but your typical college BL with typical first world problems, an overpacked plot and very little substance. In short, a disappointment.

Both men were actually not normal, for me from the start when he drugged the man i should have known that this drama was heading down the wrong way ... it just literally went down hill from there. then we had a cheating scena and he gets caught but some how they end up back together.

the whole backwards and forwards was just a non starter.

Overall: just watch for the sake of it and nothing else?

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Not heavy on romance

I came for the romance and wished there could have been more.. I stayed for whatever romance I could get because it was so sweet and nicely developed, just wanted more.

Everyone grows, there is some interesting stuff happening

But it does drag somewhat. And some parts I was bored. Wish it didn't do this. Probably could have cut it down a few episodes to tighten the storyline.

It was cute and funny and lite hearted. Not hilarious or all that laugh out loud all the time. But I enjoyed that there wasn't too much scheming and over the top drama

It was interesting to see the sisterhood and the feminist takes.

The minor characters' story was not bad

Not much of an ost behind it

I wouldn't rewatch, even for the sparse romance... Or even for the chemistry of the leads..

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