Reviews

Can't get enough of woman-led action shows

As some reviewers have noted, the plot isn't entirely original—but the storywriting makes it so that you're still left on the edge of your seat throughout the 8 hours. This drama has also converted me into a big fan of Han So Hee. I can't believe this is only her second lead role! I previously saw her in Nevertheless, where I thought her acting was somewhat stiff. She shines in My Name, playing an anguished, rage-filled, and revenge-driven heroine who fears nothing and will stop at nothing to fulfill her life's goal.

Although the plot isn't entirely new in the realms of revenge noir films/dramas, there's something about woman-focused action shows that I can't get enough of. And the action in this drama is SO satisfyingly good.

Also, the soundtrack is exceptional and deepens the drama's emotional value. 10/10 would recommend. And get ready for a bloodbath.

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Best Drama !

This has got to be the best Drama i have watched so far ! This all Emotional roller coaster of a ride was so fun to watch ! The story and the plot was amazing The chemistry between the leads and all the other actors were just amazing !
This drama Probably did the best casting ever ! All the actors were brilliant and i could feel as if im also with them ! Loved the vibes scenery and the osts so much ! If you want to know whats the buzz watch this drama and i promise you will be hooked ! Honestly i dont want this free therapy to end but it has sadly but it will always be able to rewatch !

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It is better than the first one even though you don't believe me!

Yes, everybody is cheating in this season, including our perfect, caring and loveable Korn, but hear me out... From the beginning the position that Knock put him in it was very exhausting, mentally and emotionally, why? Well coming out to your family is not an easy task, imagine if your family threatens you to erase you if you even think of being gay, korn was overwhelmed and heartbroken because he wanted to show his love for knock to his parents, and make knock happy, but he knew that he couldn't if he wanted to keep being part of the family. I know knock's position too because he wanted to be with him without pretending, however, his parents didn't know either, and he was demanding this from korn, I thought it was a bit unfair on korn to have all this pressure when he as well needed to talk with his parents but korn was not pressuring him. Also, from the beginning you can see all the care and love in the little details that korn always had with knock, however, you don't see this much from knock, sometimes you could even say that he was taking him for granted, not paying attention to him, always distracted with the game on his phone, etc., like I saw little consideration not to say almost none towards korn from knock,

With all of this I am not saying nor condoning the cheating because there is no excuse, however, he was feeling very lonely, heartbroken and needed to be loved by his love and hi love (knock) was acting like spoiled brat as usual and of course like always in life there is someone always ready to temp and take advantage of the vulnerability of others pretending to be your friends and this is exactly what happened to korn. AGAIN, it is not that I am saying that cheating is right, however, he was taken advantage of, and he was destroyed for doing that, he has been the most caring and loving man to knock, but he made a mistake, but I think that under the circumstances that it was plus their immense love for each other he was worthy of a second chance. So I don't think ppl should hate korn due to this, all the good things that he is as a person and as a boyfriend are way more than that mistake to let him be defined or hated by it, he deserved his second chance.

Anyway, like I always say, I am super protective of Korn because he simply is the best, but even the best makes mistakes sometimes. If you love #MaxTul you will love this season the most but be prepared to cry and suffer cause the emotions in this season are no joke!

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Questions the normality that has been decided for us

Saka no Tochu no Le is a Japanese drama produced by Wowow which follows two stories, one of Yamazaki Risako, a mother with a young daughter and a small family and that of Ando Mizuho who is on trial for murdering her infant daughter by drowning her in a bathtub.

The story merges these two seemingly worlds apart incidents when Yamazaki Risako is chosen as a substitute lay judge (a lay judge is cannot participate in the actual sentencing but provide their opinions, a substitute lay judge is merely appointed in case one of the lay judges is unable to attend). But it doesn't stop there, as we see more of Yamazaki Risako's life and that of Ando Mizuho, it is shocking how similar they are. This realisation hits Yamazaki Risako, and this odd connection between herself as a murderer makes our protagonist (and hopefully our audience too), gain a new perspective.

Saka no Tochu no Le feels like a modern rendering of a Kate Chopin story, in particular, the short story “The Story of an Hour,” where Kate Chopin uses her style to narrate how society builds walls and cages and drives people into corners.

“What makes struggling mothers feel cornered is the concept of “normality.” The normality demanded by society. The normality that was decided for you. And the normality sought by the actual mothers themselves.”


Saka no Tochu no Le sheds light on parenthood and its struggles from a multitude of perspectives through the appointment of lay judges; the first of course is our protagonist who is pivotal to the story and our understanding of the murderer Ando Mizuho; a woman who cannot bear children but desperately wants to be a mother and in her own way faces stigma for it; a father whose wife cannot bear him because their marriage has forced her to live in poverty as opposed to her life with her wealthy parents and another important perspective comes from a female judge who is forced to choose between her career and her child by an unaccommodating husband.

At the core of every story is pain which is born as people drive themselves into corners as they try to meet the standards set by society and in its exposition, Saka no Tochu no Le questions this idea of "normalcy" forced upon us by society and by us ourselves. Although it does not say so explicitly, but Postpartum Depression and moral harassment are also dealt with here.

One of my favorite scenes from the story is when our protagonist and Ando Mizuho meet in a tranquil otherworld where she discusses her questions as a new struggling mother and it makes her feel more confident about herself. We do not have to drive ourselves and others into corners. Another message is perhaps that society is too judgemental; knowing the backstory of a person can change the entire perspective and one should not judge so easily.

The title translates to “A House on the Slope,” taken perhaps from how Ando Mizuho went up the sloping road to her house everyday with the afternoon sun overhead making her drenched in sweat and a tiredness and sadness takes over her and manifests in her as she is forced to make this scary journey alone.

Wowow again marvel's me with their use of camerawork. The transitions from Yamazaki Risako to Ando Mizuho were scary and brilliant. They use evocative cinematography and soundtrack to arouse the emotions it wants in its viewers.

This drama is a masterpiece in terms of its direction, production, script, story, acting and message. While I do not believe that any drama is a "must watch," I do believe that some stories are essential watches which have real lessons in them and Saka no Tochu no Le is one of them.

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Zhuo wen yuan and Song Qi

I really like how the story begin, since Wen Yuan and Qi were both childhood friend as well, but he has fallen for her long ago. I liked the way he make her happy, and always protect her in a quiet way, during the time i really hope that he would confess to her before someone else does. But unfortuanately he does it after she together with Yun Zhi, I was like "how selfish he is!"also he never let this go even if she rejected him many times. As the time goes by he was even more cruel to her just for his own greed and selfishness. And at the end I really don't understand him that he tries to poison Qi, but when he knows that she was alive and start fighting with her he's suddenly let her win on purpose and then kill himself.

I still like it though, it doesn't make me feel bad for the second lead anymore after what he;s done

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Great complement for weekend relaxation.

Personally, this theme feels like a breath of fresh air since we've been fed with a lot of dark-nerve wrecking dramas for the last 2 years. (Vincenzo, Flower of Evil, Mouse, The Devils Judge, Beyond evil etc).

Too put it simple, it doesn't stress you out. A lot of happy moments and a little here and there of every other emotions.

Pros:
A lot of life lesson. Warm and touching. This drama perfectly present POVs from a hardworking wife, a husband, a single dad, a stepmom etc that people always bottle up and avoid talking about it.

Aesthetic-served. Cinematography is similar to Lovestruck in the City.

OSTs just stuck in your head.

Cons:
But, I personally felt like there's something missing towards the end of the story. We've been reminded on every episode how Du Sik suffers from trauma but it was just at ep 15 when everyone half-assedly apologize and he seemed rather fine all of sudden? I don't know.

Every conflicts seemed to be unfold and resolved on ep15 and 16 like and that's it?

Some episodes on second half felt like fillers.

Also SikHye romantic moments are a little too much/cringey for me.
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Anyway, I'd still recommend this to someone who needed something light for their weekend.

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what most romcom kdramas aspire to be

If you want a high quality romance kdrama with a good buildup, then Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha will not disappoint. The atmosphere and setting is beautiful, the leads are flawed but charming, and the story between them and the town is so heartwarming to watch. While there are definitely some sad parts (read: obligatory traumatized male lead), it never strays into heavy angst that feels hopeless or overtly dark. This is a drama that is first and foremost about healing, and it never forgets that.

Now a few reasons why this is almost a 9/10 but not quite:
- After ep 10, it's not as good as the first episodes
- While I liked Gongjin, I never became super attached to any of the stories of the townsfolk
- There was a really good opportunity for a wlw couple to take the stage but the love story was instead given to a less-than-stellar ex-husband
- Dusik's past was built up a bit too suspensefully for the pay off

Despite this, it wasn't enough to bump the rating further down, especially since it never got boring, which, to me, is one of the biggest flaws a show can have. It's still a great kdrama to watch when you just want something fun, sweet, and romantic, and I'd highly recommend it, especially if you're the type to be picky over romcoms. The ending was also very satisfying to me, which is a rare find.

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A decent entry into the survival game genre while simultaneously fordging nowhere new.

Gory, violent, vulgar, and graphic Squid Game doesn't, as they say, pull any punches. This works in the show's favor as a strong juxtaposition to the candy coated, pastel painted, childlike game world it takes place. And well, that is kinda the whole point. Bookending itself with the very childhood Korean game it is named after "Squid Game," the beginning has it played by children and the ending played by adults. Honestly, the violence exists in both iterations, showing that childhood isn't truly that innocent, and adults are not the different from children.

This idea of "adult children" runs through the entirety of the viewing experience. Our main protagonist Seong Gi Hoon / "No. 456" played by Lee Jung Jae, a middle aged man living with his mother, comes off as a bratty teenager in the first 30 seconds we meet him as he whines about money while stuffing his face with food his mother made him before she heads off for a day of back breaking work. He lives a life of laziness, selfishness, and failures. Being a dead beat father, who claims he loves his daughter, but then does nothing to support or raise her, he instead spends his time stealing from his mother and gambling. Under tremendous amounts of debt to bookies and loan sharks, his debtors finally place a ticking clock to pay up or "pay with his body."

When the mysterious salesman shows up in all his bravado and gets Jung Jae to participate in a game on a subway platform, the audience can see the trap being set with each passing moment. As Jung Jae continuously loses and takes bodily harm as payment for that losing, he maniacally keeps going again and again until he gets that one win. And thus, the mentality of what is to come is shown.

Most of the premier episode deals with just Jung Jae story, and spends a lot of time setting up his place in the world. It isn't until the end of this episode when we get our first game and have glimpses at the other main players we will follow. Is this time well spent, I can't decide. His story does not garner sympathy or paint him as a good person. When he enters the first arena, I particularly didn't care if he lived or died, and well that is a problem. Antiheroes are huge right now, and Jung Jae is most definitely a character that falls in this category. But, unlike Vincenzo, The Devil Judge, or Taxi Driver, he isn't likable. What makes him not-heroic is not "grey morality" it is simply being a bad low life human being. He isn't a criminal, but the story has not shown him to be someone you want to root for either.

Other characters are more clear cut with the exception of Cho Sang Woo / "No. 218" played by Park Hae Soo. He is a foil to our main lead. Raised in the same neighborhood, and a childhood friend and rival, Sang Woo's life has been almost the opposite of Jung Jae. Coming from a single family stall saleswoman mother household, he educated himself, worked hard, and got himself into the most prestigious university in Korea. To most in the old neighborhood Sang Woo has gone on to be a successful businessman and the golden child of the low income world they all live. Well, at least that is the story his mother and everyone back home knows. In a quick backstory drop by our masked game-masters, it seems he has actually spent his time becoming a white collar criminal who is hiding from the police and 6 billion won worth of multiple financial crimes.

The rest of our main rag tag team of "good guys" is filled with a variety of the disenfranchised. Characters that are truly at a larger disadvantage in life than our two already described main male leads. Kang Sae Byeok / "No. 067" is the hardened female North Korea defector who has become a thief to survive in South Korea while trying to make a home for her younger brother. She is a very stock creation to pull at the trope of a soft hearted criminal. Luckily Jung Ho Yeon plays her perfectly balanced in ruthlessness and stoicism versus tenderness and vulnerability, which will likely have you rooting for her more than most if not all the others.

Ali Abdul / "No. 199" is our illegal immigrant from Pakistan with a heart of gold. The physically strongest of the bunch is also the most cuddly, kind, and naive. Anupam Tripathi plays him with such wide eyed youthful trust that you will want everyone involved to sacrifice themselves for his survival. And lastly, Oh Young Soo as Oh Il Nam / "No. 001" finishes our team as an elderly man who is on deaths door with a brain tumor and fighting off the beginning stages of dementia.

To say that we will lose some of these characters along the way is a given. While I won't go into when, how, or why, just suffice it to say that the only character with plot armor is our ML (Remember the whole 1st episode is dedicated to him) and of course one other player, the antagonist evil player, Jang Deok Soo / "No. 101". Both are given equal protection to make sure the push and pull between their characters remains until we reach the end. Heo Sung Tae plays the character with ease as at this point if you have seen any Korean dramas you will know how incredibly type cast he has become.

The first game Red Light/Green Light, shows everyone involved of what they have become a part. With an oversized head spinning porcelain doll that counts in a girls childish voice with everyone inside a painted arena-looking like a sandbox on a sunny day-as masked guards in pink suits stand idly with machine guns, the almost 50's Americana design (aesthetics used in video games such as Fallout) are clearly painted.

In the first episode more than half of nearly 500 players are mowed down with gunfire, in what is easily the highest body count of the show. It affects the remaining player-base so much that the survivors demand to be released, setting up a voting that is in the rules of the game. If more than 50% of the players want to quit, then they will all be freed. BUT, before the voting begins the reward for staying and competing is revealed. 100 million won per player dead. Meaning the pot, in the end, will be around 45 billion. If they choose to quit, then the money will be sent to the families of the deceased each getting the 100 million that was put in the pot. This, to say the least, changes the game, and the mind of many who were only moments before begging to go free.

Now here is were the show, I think, makes its greatest fault. That is, in a nail biting vote that comes down to a single player difference, the group is freed and all go back to their lives, but under the condition that if more than 50% want to return the games will recommence. Of course since all this takes place in the first and second episode, it is not a spoiler or remotely unclear that all the players will return. Well at least 187 out of the 201 freed will return.

While the show is trying to make a social statement between the real world and the game, it is hazy in how it draws this comparison. The idea is that these people are so destitute, forgotten, at wits end, and put upon by an unfair society, that ultimately playing in a game to the death for money is not so bad, or at least equally appealing as to living their actual lives. That is, the world itself is a game (Or rat-race) and the only way out of it is death, so why not take that chance at becoming a billionaire by playing an actual game with your life.

Unfortunately, this only holds up if you are morally bankrupt already. Yes, life is hard, it sucks a lot of the time, and there are disadvantages and advantages to it based on simply where you are born, with what color skin, looks, and wealth. However, each person has the choice of what they do with their life and who they choose to become. Look at our main two leads mothers. These are women, that as far as we know, have raised their sons mostly alone. Without wealth or privilege, they have created homes for themselves and opened businesses, and had families. Was it hard, yes. Do we wish their lives were better, of course. But these women show their strength of will and character and do not take shortcuts and thus have created something for themselves as small as it might be.

We can talk about the cop Hwang Jun Ho, played by heartthrob Wi Ha Joon, and how he become a police officer versus his missing brother ( who as far as we know is likely amongst the dead that played in the first game), while raised in the same house, the same family, with the same advantages but ended up in VERY different t places. A persons character, morality, and code matters and it isn't simply the world and society is bad. It is flawed and broken, and needs social change, of course, but this show doesn't show how to accomplish that change. It wants to show what depraved people will do to each other.

Outside of our Pakistani Ali, whose life takes a truly fateful turn in these few days of release as his intentions of leaving Korea and going home are destroyed while being preyed upon by a Korean businessman who uses him as a virtual slave because of his illegal status, everyone who returns to the game returns of their freewill knowing what lies in wait, what they will be forced to do and be a part of, and most importantly with a plan to win. These players that in the beginning where being selfish children and looking for easy money but found themselves in heinous game of mass killing and demanded freedom now become as equally complicit and active agents in the slaughter.

As a viewer, it made me no longer care if any of them lived or died. They are there because they choose to be. They are there because they want the prize. They are there because they are no better than those who devised the arena in which they play. Thus, it is a story of bad people playing with and killing bad people for a huge pot of blood money. And well, that made the show fairly depressing to get through, and gave me very little in the way of wanting to root for a winner antihero or not. If they simply had not done this, not made it where these characters actively choose to return, as a viewer I could have gotten behind and rooted for people I really didn't like, and forgive them for acts they transgress. But that is based on the idea, they were unknowing forced into a bad situation and must do what they can to survive and get out of it. Every character could have been written the same way they are, and I would have rooted for some of them regardless of their faults. In the end, as it was done, I held them responsible for their own deaths and the deaths they cause.

Episode seven is a divisive one that uses homosexuality as the benchmark of the truly depraved and the ultimate bad guy amongst an arena of bad people. Its South Korean entertainment, what can you expect from a homophobic country? It also continues the South Korean trend of using low grade actors whenever a westerner needs to be on screen and paints white wealthy westerners as sexual deviants and the lowest of the low. Whatever, just like The Devil Judges flaw of using the west as homosexuals in a salute to homophobia when sentencing a sexual predator, Squid Game just follows in line.

The aforementioned cop Jun Ho, finally has something to do in this episode, but his entire character seems misplaced and unneeded. How his story unfolds, and where it ends, makes him a character that lives fully in subplot story lines that never lead to any fruition or tie into the main plot of the series. Why did we meet him and spend time with him? What did we learn from his snooping? How did his character impact anything about the story? While his last scene seems to leave some open ended storytelling on the fate of the Squid Game operation, and the fate of himself. The time jump in the last episode of the series seems to answer all the open ended questions that left dangled. And that is, we didn't ever need him as a character.

By the end of the series, there are some twists that MOST will see coming long before they are revealed, and the ending itself is odd and weirdly uncathartic. Maybe that is the point, life isn't cathartic. Crap happens, and then we go on. This was in the end just a "slice of life" etc. As a viewer, you don't buy it, and while it hints there may be a sequel, you wonder if there is a point to it. Very few if any of the cast can return. So it will basically be all new characters to meet if we go for round two. And seeing the games again, will be very "Hunger Games" number 2, a not as fun go around of the first time. As for the games themselves, we learn very little. Who were all the men in masks? Why are they playing their role? The few that are unmasked are shown to be young and basically psychotic. What do they get out of and how did they get roped into being masked game masters? How do they move through the ranks and get either a lowly circle, gun blazing triangle, or master square ranking?

The main black masked man, is he just evil? After he does what he does and the little we learn about him, his character is basically a walking problem. Being a winner of the games, who chooses to live in virtual poverty in the real world even though a billionaire, but comes back to this world to run, design, and watch others die in games, seems to suggest yeah, he is just a bad guy. He is a confusing mess of a character, and we didn't even spend much time with him unmasked for all these issues to arise. Is season two going to be basically about him? Is that why we have the limousine scene between the winner of these games and him in the end?

Why did Squid Games become so successful? I can't answer this for you. Like the masked game masters that are just there because, this show is the greatest Netflix success, just because it is. While the acting is better in Squid Games, Netflix's Alice in Boarderlands is much stronger in individual game designs for the players, and in dissecting morality and the condition of the human animal when placed into a survivalist world. You also clearly have characters you can and want to root for, even if they are morally dubious. While its premise isn't as grounded and believable as Squid Game's, Alice does create a world that is even more terrifying and allows your imagination to run amok on how it is all happening. Yet Alice, though getting a season 2, has gone mostly unnoticed by the world at large.

Squid Game is worth a watch, provided you can handle the material. It is a solid entry in survival storytelling and creates a generally unique aesthetic to tell its tale. It is very strongly acted, and the Korean Drama plague of caricature side characters or characters written just to be comic relief are mostly if not fully absent. The directing, while straight forward, does keep the story moving and refrains from allowing the actors to have soap boxes, overly dramatic melodrama scenes, or annoyingly cloying moments. The production shines, and is generally in all regards a very top notch experience.

But, do not go into this with unrealistic expectations or with the belief you are going to travel unknown roads. You have seen everything here before, The Purge, Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Alice in Boarderlands etc are just a few from the modern age that travels where this series goes. It does it with more gore than the kid friendly versions but is on par with Alice or The Purge in that department. There are unneeded subplots, unneeded side characters, and a lot of questions that never get answers. In short, it isn't perfect, or mind-blowing. But it is good. 3.5 Stars (7) overall B. Better than the bulk of content Netflix has to offer, but forgettable and in the end not a must see.

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it's not that bad

it really isn't

but there are a lot of skips in it. i couldn't watch an entire episode without skipping 20min.

there were a lot of things that bothered me, for example:
who was more USELESS? a) lei chu xia going back to november 18th and doing the exact same thing and not saving anyone b) qin yue learning xiao dong's BIGGEST secret and immediately telling the villain

that's only 2 things out of WAY TOO MANY, but anyways...

if you ignore it, the story is kinda fun. a little bit confusing tho, but very amusing, the relationship between the leads is healthy and sweet. and even tho it looked like a sad ending, i'm pretty sure it's a happy ending.

i love ju jingyi.

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Just Wonderful

Okay, in the beginning I came here for Bae Soo Bin (Cheon Soo). I immensely enjoy his acting. But then I discovered Ji Jin Hee (King Suk Jon) who was just absolutely captivating. I’ve watched a ton of these historical dramas and I have to say the chemistry between the ML and FL in this series is off the charts. In their moments of happiness and levity your heart just soars….such joyful moments on the screen. Moments many of us wish we were experiencing in our own lives. What would it be like to have someone, your Beloved to be that Loyal….to be by your side thru terrible lows? To be willing to sacrifice everything they are for you? This is what Dong Yi is about. It is also about how respect for each other and choices they make that might not be where you want to go at all, but because you love them, you grant them that freedom of choice and support them in those choices.

This series is about Trust. Will you trust someone when everything points to the contrary? Will you believe in them just because they ask you to? How many of us can say that their family or friends would trust us even if their lives would be in danger to do so?

The Korean dramas always have a way of fostering compassion for even the most nefarious deeds that the characters commit. This series is no different. It is written in such a way that you can really understand why they do what they do. Sadness comes as we realize that this is a mirror reflection of our world right now also. People with tunnel vision making bad decisions.

This series is 60 episodes. It bogs down in the middle a bit. But persevere because it is worth slogging through repetitions of the same misfortunes….it does get better. Hang in there.

My only negative is that I cannot fathom why the director had three of the characters be so ridiculous. You know who they are when you watch this. It ruined those scenes entirely. What was the director thinking, to create such over the top clownish characters? Those scenes were really irritating.

I will rewatch at the minimum, the scenes between Dong Yi and The King. Bae Soo Bin did not disappoint….Perfect acting as usual. I also really enjoyed Jung Jin Young as Seo Yong Gi, the police commander; and Jung Sun as the Eunuch to the King.

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my heart feels empty,now that it ended..

everything was beautiful!!The story is quite realistic hence,relatable..characters were quite annoying at first,but everyone had a reason for their behavior. I loved how they showed everyone's side story and make us love them more and more.it's nice that everyone had a character development too,especially hyejin,I think i can say that she had the best character development.

the chemistry between the leads is top-notch! it feels like i am watching a reality show of two real life couples.i love how the dialogue seems like a real life conversation between them. as expected from great actors~

watching this really felt refreshing but warm too,at some times..I will really miss our sikhye couple and the people from gongjin..

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A Home Run

I was on the fence whether to watch this. In my heart is Ji Jin Hee as King Suk Jong in Dong Yi. His portrayal of such a honest and caring King was so profound to me I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch Ji Jin in a lesser role. I shouldn’t have worried one bit. Because here he plays the same kind of character…and is just as captivating.

There actually isn’t one actor/actress that doesn’t give a stunning performance. This series reminds me of one long ago called Lost, made in the U.S. No matter how hard you tried you couldn’t figure out who the protagonists are….its an endless maze…and this is what makes this series a real winner.

I became enthralled with learning about Korean politics. Not so much different than here in the U.S. The corrupt always seem to stay in power. What would it be like to actually have good, caring, honest rulers? Ones who put the people first instead of their own selfish pursuits of power. What a world we would have.

I would really like to see a Season 2. Knowing Netflix they probably won’t do another season. Seems everything I always really like is canceled after one season.

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great action series

I really loved this series and I've rewatched it several times. The action is great and I think that the acting is great also. My favorite characters where the ML and the SFL. I never really got to big of a romantic vibe from them like some people did but their chemistry was awesome. I thought that they gave both characters several layers that made me feel for them and want to see more. Some people thought that the female romantic interest was annoying but she had her reasons and the romance wasn't the point of the story. It's a pretty straight forward, but not boring plot but that's is exactly what I was looking for. So if you just want to turn your brain down for a few hours and be entertained by a great action series with little romance and a strong female character (SFL) this is the show for you.

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I actually liked this drama :)

I initially did not want to watch this drama because of the several reviews and comments on here claiming it was a bore, disappointing, and lack luster. Fortunately, I chose to go ahead with it mainly because I really like Cha Taehyun and his acting and I was super curious about Krystal's performance. I was surprised by how much I was able to enjoy this, but of course I can't say this was a technically perfect drama, its a great bromance watch but not an overall deep plot.

What I liked/loved:

-Seeing Jung Jin Young from B1A4 again was so fun! Also his acting performance was superb, I was eating up every word. Also can we talk about the type of main lead he took on, so refreshing! In this drama he plays a uninspired and dreamless high school senior and eventually college freshman with a sad past and many flaws. Watching this character learn and grow was relatable and quite humorous.

-Jung Jin Young and Cha Tae Hyun's bromance was everything, its not "romantic," but the beginning is hilarious to watch and it eventually becomes a touching relationship between sort-of mentor and mentee. I kept going though this drama just to watch their little moments. (Sidenote: Cha Tae Hyun makes a great senior detective, very convincing!)

-I loved to hate the character Park Min Kyu, omg! He was so annoying as the second male lead, but in my opinion I think it fit this role so I included it in this list. I liked that they eventually made him mellow out and become friends with the main male lead.

-Is no one going to talk about the setting? Correct me if I am wrong, but this is the first k-drama that takes places in a police university, which IMO was pretty cool! I love watching dramas that give me a better insight into different areas of South Korea, I realize this drama covers very broad topics and is likely an extremely dramatized and romanticized version of real life police schools and life in this country, but I still find it interesting and new to the k-drama world. (P.S. I know K-movies set in police universities exist, I am talking about specifically episode oriented k-dramas.)

-Despite the sensitive topics it covers like, death, adoption, and just serious crime in general, I appreciate that the drama strayed from creating an extremely depressing and gloomy atmosphere. For example the ML's back story was explained and came up through out the drama, but it was presented as an event that altered his life physically and psychologically but he's accepted it and is able to live on with the scars, and not as this incredibly painful and mentally destructive event. (I'm not trying to be insensitive here, what I am trying to say is that his 'sob story' wasn't milked til the last drop like I see in a lot of other dramas, it was a more realistic portrayal.)


What I did NOT love as much as the afore mentioned things:

- The mysterious corruption gambling investigation plot, at FIRST was fun. I liked watching the ML and his professor investigate, go on little detective sprees, and uncover all kinds of clues. HOWEVER, the mystery eventually became less and less engaging, I ended up wanting to watch more of the ML's school life and love life. Around episode 12 I was kind of over the whole "whodunnit?" bit I was ready for that to be over and to focus on the ML's growth and school problems. I don't agree with a lot of commenters that the drama should have been cut down, instead I think the way that certain clues were revealed should have been done differently. I think they let the viewers in on everything a little too early.

-Krystal's character towards the end made me reconsider the importance of her role all together. Don't get me wrong I loved her and the ML crushing on each other, becoming friends, each of their jealousy over the other and all that lovey-dovey stuff but as soon as she was clued into all the detective drama I started to dislike her. To keep it short, the ML was going to break a lot of school rules and put himself in a dangerous position to save his professor and her mom. Her character decided instead of helping him, she was going to stop him or impede him as much as possible and then eventually in the ML's most trying moments she breaks up with him. I hated this side of Krystal's character, I realized later that this was likely done to push the episodes along, but I was peeved that she literally went out of her way to stop him going so far and sticking Min Kyu on ML and his friends to get them in trouble, and the whole break up while the ML was struggling the most was just down right aggravating!!! They have a happy ending nonetheless but her behavior kind of killed the cutesy romance vibes I was loving between them.

-Lacking in the back story department. What I mean by this is that I felt several areas need further explanation but we never got that. One example of this is the ML's parents deaths, we don't get much more than a couple flashbacks in the beginning and then no further depth, which I thought might have been helpful in understanding the ML's behavior and personality better. I will say that this doesn't detract from the drama, but IMO would have been more helpful. The other place I thought a good flash back was needed was in the end when we find out who was behind the whole mystery corruption/gambling crime, as I write this I don't even remember the entire "why" aspect of it all, like what exactly was the purpose of this entire crime chain?? I wouldn't know. But like I said the school content was more interesting and substantial enough for me.




My Conclusion:

If you want a lighter kdrama watch, that focuses mainly on the ML's perspective and has a good mix of mystery and university drama this is definitely for you. The underlying plot of the corruption crime was great but faltered some towards the end, it was still watchable however. It was not disappointing IMO, I finished it thanks to the bromance, the interesting setting, and the growth of the ML. It was super fun to watch, made me laugh every episode, and didn't force me to think too hard about anything. The ending was also quite happy, if that matters to you, like it does me. Its a good mindless watch, I would suggest taking it slow and just relaxing with this one instead of winding yourself up in all the drama and mystery.

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