Cheese in the Trap

When people ask me if I recommend a drama or not i usually reply by encouraging them to watch it themselves and judge its quality. This review is just to inform the audience about the show's overall vibe from my perspective. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and here i will be simply stating mine.

For me "Cheese in the trap" is one of those dramas that belong in the "love it or hate it" category.

THINGS I LIKED:
The beginning of the show was indeed very interesting and totally got me hooked. This isn't an ordinary slice of life love story, but instead many cliches are being broken throughout the show. The unexpected things that kept happening in almost every episode somehow kept me intrigued. The characters were all well developed, it was exciting to see their secrets unravel and find out why they act the way they do. I love how unconventional the appearance of Hong Seol was, it was cool seeing another hairstyle other than the silky smooth perfect hair most female leads have in dramas. The actors were all very good and played their roles fairly well, even the support roles were acted out excellently. The OST was nothing special but it wasn't annoying to listen to either.

THINGS I DISLIKED:
The age difference between the female and male lead was very intimidating to me. I am not the type of person to say such thing, i honestly believe that love has no age, but hear me out on this one. Despite the characters being only 2 years apart in the drama (almost 10 years in real life) they have to use honorifics. That's okay with me. But even after dating? Hong Seol didn't get to call her boyfriend by his name and kept calling him Sunbae. I like honorific speech and i respect Korean culture but that was too much for me. It just made it seem like the couple wasn't close at all. It felt sketchy. Also i strongly disliked Park Hae-Jin's role. He played it excellently but i just couldn't stand Jung Yoo's personality at all. I know that he had a reason for acting like he did but for me that wasn't enough to justify everything as well as Hong Seol's choice. Which brings me to my next point. Hong Seol's decision to date Jung Yoo, a guy who was literally lying to her, couldn't trust her, kept neglecting her or getting mad and was cold towards her, instead of In-ho who always tried to cheer her up and was there to protect her is just pure nonsense in my eyes. I don't care if Jung Yoo is like that with everyone. I just find this kind of relationship to be unhealthy and would never do something like that myself even if i loved the person. Love is a beautiful thing, but there are boundaries between awkwardness and ignorance. Since this is a realistic story not set in some magical land or the outer space viewers should be able to relate to the characters especially the protagonist, something that i was unable to do. Finally, the ending left me completely unsatisfied and rather disappointed, the characters were pretty much left hanging. It would've been so much better if they had cut out some of the bar scenes to dedicate more time in showcasing the couple's relationship and work on the character development. It's too bad that such excellent actors were given roles that stayed unfinished until the very end of the show.

Regardless of what I mentioned in this review, i would advise everyone to watch this drama and reach their own conclusion. Who knows? You may really enjoy it.

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Do you know what? After all the controversy behind this drama I still really enjoyed it. There were parts of the webcomics that didn't flow and made no sense but the way the drama flows it does all add up. The ending was a bit annoying but it was still an enjoyable and understandable storyline. All personalities made sense, I was annoyed the Seol began to like Jung considering what they went through but then again he is a good looking guy that is giving you attention lol.
The music is amazing! The OST can be found on Spotify.
The characters work, all of them kind of look like their webcomic counterparts without looking fake. It draws you in and even though, like I said, there was a lot of commotion about screen time etc. It should still be given a chance especially so you can hear the music lol.

So not 10/10 it's an 8 for me.

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A Perfectly Imperfect Drama...

Oh, Cheese In The Trap, you tricky little drama, you.

In all honesty, I have probably rewatched this drama more than any others, which is a testament to its charm when you take into account the many, many mistakes the drama makes along the way. First off, the highlights: Kim Go Eun is a perfect protagonist for this show. She's charming, bubbly, relatable. Her voiceovers feel like a conversation with a friend. Her outfits are enviable. The OST is great, and I believe somewhat unique for a modern Kdrama. Nam Joo Hyuk and Park Min Jin were adorable comic relief. Every side character within the university was believable, though perhaps slightly over-exaggerated; I went to school with my fair share of Min-Soos and Young-Gons. You can't take your eyes off either SKJ or LSK in any scene. Despite his own protestations, I actually think Park Hae Jin did a great job showing the different sides to Yoo Jung.

In fact, the premise itself was very interesting to me (although I'm aware it is an adaptation): establishing an extremely mundane university existence (struggles with group projects, classmates, friends, family, money, first love) and placing a 'sociopath' plot right in the middle of it. The early explorations of Yoo Jung's character were gripping, with show placing seeds of doubt about his intentions as well as his general mental state. I thought the use of colour and location to show the difference between Jung and Seol's lives was an interesting choice: the unnervingly quiet monotone of Yoo Jung's home vs the unruly homeliness of Hong Seol's little student apartment. I liked getting little glimpses into his thought process, why he fell for HS in the first place, his childhood traumas and his longing to be understood.

So where did it all go wrong? When the creators decided to put Yoo Jung on the back burner and bring Seo Kang Joon to the forefront? The lack of chemistry between KGE and PHJ (although I like to argue with myself that this is a choice, that it isn't supposed to be a desirable, 'love at first sight' relationship; it's supposed to be confusing and awkward). The annoying longevity of the Min-soo impersonation plotline? The pointless drama of Hong Seol's accident? The horrifically lazy ending?

Whatever the case, I'd say the drama is still watchable, and obviously for me, rewatchable. Even if it's just to live vicariously through Hong Seol's wardrobe. Just take a spoonful of sugar with the drama past the episode 7 mark, I'd say.

Also - best theme song of a Kdrama ever. No apologies.

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Cheese in the trap tells the story about a college student and her relationship with her senior who is not the guy he appears to be. Unlike other K dramas, the romance doesn't get all cheesy and cute, but stays within reasonable levels, most of the time anyway. Also the love triangle is well managed. The characters change throughout the series, and you grow to like them, then dislike them, then like them again. And that, I think, is the best part about this series and it makes it unique. Also, it keeps the interest high, as, unlike other dramas that the story concludes at about the 14th episode, cheese in the trap keeps it interesting till the end, with a nice final episode that doesn't stick with the patterns of tacky romance. And because of its originality, I think that Cheese in the trap is definitely one of the k dramas to watch.

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I have mostly good things to say about this so i'm going to get the stinker out of the way first - I thought the ending was executed extremely poorly. I agree with the ending they are trying to portray but I thought that the execution was incredibly underwhelming and left a sour taste on what had otherwise been an enjoyable and different story to watch.

There are lots of strong characters in this one, the main leads are of course there but the seconds are just as present and have good interesting plots and backgrounds in their own rights.

My favourite character by far was Baek In Ha - her character teeters on a fine line between "ugh she's so annoying get her off the screen" and wacky enough to be different and given the relatively flat and understated natures of the main leads, In Ha's stark contrast was actually a welcome shot in the arm. The actress (Lee Sung Kyung) did a brilliant job with an almost constant stream of outlandish facial expressions - this girl wears her heart on her sleeve and hides nothing from anyone around her, but she's selfish, bitchy and clearly has some issues. It was good to see that ultimately those issues got explored as part of the male leads story, and I particularly liked the utter contrast when In Ha has something of a breakdown and ends up in care for a short while as things come to a head in the story. I am absolutely going to look up some more work from Lee Sung Kyung though, I absolutely need to see her talents in other roles!

I can draw some parallels in this story against "Remember - War of the Son" - both stories cover the warped way that chaibol kids are raised and the impacts that it has on them as they grow, how they react / respect the people around them and the impact that it has on those people. Baek In Ha and Baek In Ho are hugely impacted by what looks to be a wonderful gesture from Mr You, the father, to bring them in and adopt them - but they ultimately pay a price because of how it affects them, and that starts to talk to how In Ha ends up the outlandish character that she is.

I've read some reviews and other commentary on this show and it seems a lot of people wanted Hong Seol (the female lead) to end up with the second lead (Baek In Ho), but I must admit throughout I was routing for her to end up with Yoo Joung (the male lead) - throughout the story he is clearly developing as a person, she's dragging him to some sense of reality and she's the one person that he wants to hold on to enough that he improves himself to do it. I enjoyed his transformation including the ultimate realisation of just how far he needed to come to ensure that he didn't hurt those around him any more, and taking responsibility for that change.

For those looking for the fluffy romance, look no further than secondary characters Bo-Ra and Eun-Taek - at the start he jokingly comments that he's her "servant" but wonders when she will release him from being a servant. It's clear that he wants more out of the relationship but she seems dead set on things staying as they are. This is developed and explored throughout and was as well done as some main couple stories. I'm glad this was present in the story, it created some light moments as well as giving you multiple couples to support and hope would find their way to a happy future.

Music - nothing really stood out, I need to listen to the OST to see if I was just paying too much attention to the story.

On the topic of Music, Baek In Ho is portrayed as a character who is a genius with the Piano and numerous times in the story he is seen playing various pieces. The piano is my favourite musical instrument and I was delighted to see it included in this way - some of my favourite scenes were with In Ho and Hong Seol sitting side by side playing a piece together and having fun.

Conclusion - I think it's worth a watch, i'm not sure if i'd rewatch it in a hurry but that's almost entirely down to the absolutely rubbish way they concluded it in the final few seconds. I genuinely thought i'd pressed a skip button on my phone or something. On reflection I think they were just trying to be coy or imply the start of something bigger but having gone to the extent of the setup prior to the final moments (trying to avoid spoilers here) the final scene was just a complete let-down. One more episode was almost needed, at least, in order to put a proper conclusion to this and then i'd have been much happier with it overall.

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https://mystuffmynonsenses.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/cheese-in-the-trap/

Nel mio lungo elenco dei drama visti o che sto vedendo spicca Cheese in the trap, tratto dall’omonimo webtoon non concluso di Soonkki disponibile su Naver in coreano e su Webtoons in inglese (sono indietro con le stagioni).

Sono tanti i fattori per cui inizio a guardare un drama e decido di spendere almeno sedici ore della mia vita.

Inizialmente fa da calamita la scelta del cast. Scorrendo alcuni post fra vari forum e blog, ho letto la lunga diatriba (internazionale) su chi potevano essere adatti a ricoprire i personaggi tanto amati dai lettori del webtoon. La discussione era incentrata per lo più sul personaggio femminile principale, Hong Seol, quale attrice poteva meglio rappresentare un personaggio così divertente, forte, non bellissima ma nemmeno brutta, rovinare l’immaginario del lettore del webtoon. La scelta è caduta poi sull’attrice emergente e camaleontica, Kim Go Eun. Famosa per lo più in ambito cinematografico (Eungyo, Monster, Coinlocker Girl, Memories of the Sword… un curriculum invidiabile costruito in pochi anni), CITT è il suo debutto nel piccolo schermo. Per me è stata una fantastica scoperta e che continuerò a seguire, disponibilità in inglese dei suoi progetti permettendo, per lo più film appunto.

Da persona profonda e riflessiva quale sono io, sono stata invece attirata dall’attore principale, Park Hae Jin, che ha una trentina di anni e ricopre il ruolo dell’universitario. Per me è credibile, questi attori coreani non invecchiano mai. Scherzi a parte, non cambierei nulla della scelta del casting, ogni attore ha fatto il suo dovere, mi sono divertita a vederli e mi hanno convinta. Bravissimi i principali. Ma anche i secondari meritano. I secondari “odiosi” poi riescano a rubare la scena agli attori principali in alcuni momenti. Ricorderò sempre Sang Chul, Young Gun, Min Soo. Sono detestabili ma ispirano anche pietà in scene apparentemente innocue.

Mi piacerebbe dire che il merito non sia solo degli attori ma anche della regia di Lee Yoon Jung, già regista di alcuni drama che ho adorato (Coffee Prince, Heart to Heart). Dirige il cast in maniera stupenda. Gli attori non sembrano recitare. Nelle sue mani i personaggi sembrano vivere.

Per questo drama, la trama è pressoché basilare e già vista: una ragazza e un ragazzo si incontrano e si innamorano. Semplice. Ciò che lo rende diverso dagli altri sono la rappresentazione dei suoi personaggi sia principali che secondari. Il fascino di CITT è proprio nei personaggi complessi (e complessati) in cui possiamo (a volte) riconoscerci…. oddio a parte alcuni personaggi come Young Gon lo stalker e Min Soo intendo dire, lo stesso personaggio principale non rientra nei canoni “dramosi”.

La scelta dell’OST che accompagna l’intero drama si discosta dalla solita kpop commerciale ma è davvero azzeccata (detto da una persona che non capisce il coreano, mi fa capire quanto la musica sia davvero un linguaggio universale che va al di là delle barriere linguistiche quando si tratta di trasmettere emozioni).

CITT rientra nei drama che posso ritenere belli nonostante i suoi difetti e le polemiche di cui è stato investito (e che continuano nonostante la messa in onda dell’ultima puntata).

Prima ancora della messa in onda, la polemica verteva sulla scelta dell’attrice, che non fosse somigliante abbastanza alla Hong Seol del webtoon. Polemica poi zittita dalla recitazione della bravissima Kim Go Eun e dai numeri dell’indice di ascolto del drama, dal 3 al 6%, che per una tv via cavo come la Tvn è un buon risultato, tanto che il cast si è meritato già una vacanza premio.

Le successive polemiche riguardano poi la seconda metà del drama, ovvero la scelta della regista o degli autori o dei produttori (o di tutti loro) di diminuire le scene di Yoo Jung (Park Hae Jin), il personaggio principale a favore del second lead, Baek In Ho (Seo Kang Joon). È una scelta strana che potrebbe coincidere in parte alla terza stagione di CITT nella sua versione webtoon, in cui, a quanto pare ci sono poche vignette che riguardano il protagonista. Scelta assurda però in un drama in cui i sedici episodi dovrebbero poter dipanare tutte le matasse aggrovigliate create dal trama e dalle digressioni scelte dagli autori. Tagliare scene importanti per la comprensione del personaggio principale (lo stesso Park Hae Jin ha parlato di scene girate ma mai andate in onda, scene dell’infanzia del protagonista e dialoghi con suo padre), privilegiando il second lead è stata una scelta frustrante per gli spettatori e i fan, per un po’ mi ha fatto odiare In Ho e mi ha reso ancora più perplessa per Yu Jung. Dall’editing che è stato fatto e dalla messa in onda delle ultime puntate, non credo di essere riuscita a comprendere appieno il personaggio principale. Hong Seol, all’ennesimo “comportamento deviante”/ manipulazione di Yu Jung, lo abbraccia e lo consola dicendo che lo capisce e che questo non la farà scappare (è un drama). Io avrei voluto fare lo stesso, avrei voluto abbracciare ad occhi chiusi anch’io una certa spiegazione dei fatti, dei comportamenti e delle scene ma il drama non me lo ha permesso. Non mi ha dato modo di poter capire questi fatti, questi comportamenti e queste scene perché non ci sono, sono state tagliate.

Anche l’autrice del webtoon, Soonkki, ha espresso il suo sconcerto per il fatto che il team di produzione del drama non abbia rispettato la sua richiesta di creare nuovi personaggi all’interno del campus universitario e di creare un finale diverso dal webtoon, che è tuttora in corso.

Il team di produzione di CITT ha liquidato velocemente le polemiche postando una scusa. Si scusano con i fan sia del drama che del webtoon, si scusano con l’autrice Soonkki per non averla preso in considerazione (erano occupati a girare, ad editare e a trasmette gli episodi) e con l’intero cast (non a Park Hae Jin nello specifico).

Se decontestualizzo CITT, togliendo le polemiche, togliendo il confronto con il webtoon, per me rimane un buon drama (ripeto, con i suoi difetti). Un drama che parla di amore e della vita universitaria, può essere anche introspettivo e profondo. È uno sguardo non solo nella varietà umana ma anche della società coreana, qui sono rappresentati lo stress e la competitività nel mondo scolastico/lavorativo, il rispetto per i genitori (c’è quella scena in cui Sang Chul parla al telefono con sua madre inventandosi uno scenario roseo davanti al suo più modesto bibimbap per non farla preoccupare; Seol e Jung che sopportano in modo stoico/esasperante le richieste/i capricci dei loro genitori), i formalismi per la gerarchia/anzianità (il rispetto verso i sunbae da parte degli hoobae).


Il finale aperto può essere visto come pigrizia nella scrittura ma allo stesso tempo è un margine creativo concesso a noi spettatori di vederlo come lo vogliamo. Il finale è uno spiraglio si speranza per un lieto fine. Se Jung e Seol sono fatti per stare insieme, si incontreranno ancora e si ri-innamoreranno di nuovo. In CITT , che secondo me non è proprio scritto male ma è certamente editato male -nella seconda parte-, diciamo che è un contentino (non so se sia dovuto alle polemiche, non saprò mai se l’hanno rieditato dopo le polemiche e la pressione degli spettatori). La mia finale ce l’ho già. La mail di risposta e la voce fuoricampo di Yu Jung che chiama Seol come nei primi episodi mi fa ben sperare.

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What the hell did I watch!!

The only character I liked was the SML!!
This whole thing is messed up I agree that ML has been misunderstood in many of the cases but he doesn't even care if someone in front of is getting hurt physically
I mean if you care for your girlfriend or for your friend shouldn't you be jumping in between the physical fight and stop them from fighting but no he just literally stands and watches them getting hurt

He manipulated people in a creepy way
He is literally so cold
I couldn't feel the chemistry between them they were so distant
there was nothing in between them

in every single drama I have watch till now I like the second male lead but I would like the female lead to however anyhow end up with the male lead but this is the first ever drama where I just hated the male lead and adored the second lead and also wanted the female lead to end up with him

there is always something which makes the male lead little better than the second male lead so that people stan him but in this drama there was not a single characteristic of the male lead better than the second male lead

I agree that male lead in his past misunderstood and misinterpreted few of the words of the second male lead and hated him but there was no reason for him to treat him like that and just stand there when he was getting beaten up
in every even try to explain himself that he was not the one who hurt him or something like that second male lead life is completely destroyed because of him

The ending is the worst kind of ending one could have in anticipated
like the ending is completely in complete
I know the drama was a trash and it wasn't a bit like I would have expected from a drama but they could have ended the drama in a good note but the drama was a cliffhanger and that to a very bad cliffhanger
haaaaa don't waste your time and don't watch it

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A supposedly great drama was badly ruined

Watched it while it was on-air. I really loved it in the first half. It really had potential to be a masterpiece, if they kept the original plot as the webtoon, which was already very popular at that time.

But they ruined the series in the worst way. They changed the original plot and without asking the author and cut Park Hae Jin (the male lead) out of the series and replaced his scenes with the unknown second male lead's, while Park Hae Jin was the reason why a lot of people watched this series when no-one else in the cast was well-known back then.

The author and the series's fans got so angry back then, including Park Hae Jin who was also a big fan of the webtoon. But I can't rate it 1 at least for Park Hae Jin's efforts. Then to make up, the author asked Park Hae Jin to remake the webtoon into a movie version. But it's not the same. So sad for a supposedly great drama.

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