This review may contain spoilers
The message is the most significant
The message of this drama will always be, in my opinion, that our happiness and value are in the people around us. The money and things we have don't have any value and we will not be happy if we don't have people we love around us. I will always think that the enemy situation that drove the story was a little overwhelming since the beggining, it made me especially rethink about the fact that people with money really rule the world as they want without punishment and it is something that really should stop.Geun Soo, Hyun Hi e Soo Ah were my favourites characters, Geun Soo and Soo Ah had theirs ups and downs, hurt people in the process but they are characters who really had a big evolution overall. Hyun Hi was definitely the character that stole my heart, the history, the way she is portrayed and how strong she is are an inspiration.
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A comeback revenge story but with central storylines that are heart warming
9/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean romantic drama with 16, 60 minute episodes.Park Sae-ro-yi (Park Seo-joon) is a person with a very strong sense of justice and moral integrity. He is an only child being raised by his widowed father and the father and son are the most important thing in each other's worlds. Sae-ro-yi is very goal driven, his dream is to become a police officer, but the dream is shattered when he inserts himself in a bully situation. As the eldest and only legitimate son if the Jangga group, Jang Geun-won (Ahn Bo-hyun) has been groomed by his father to think of those of lower socioeconomic status as beneath him. He is a bully at school, which leads to a violent conflict with Sae-ro-yi who is not the type to stand by and allow it. When the high schoolers are disciplined the school allows Jang Dae-hee (Yoo Jae-myung), Geun-won's father and CEO of Jangga group, to decide the punishment. Since Sae-ro-yi's father happens to work for Jangga group and is a favored employee Dae-hee says he will forgive what he perceives as an insult to his son and family if Sae-ro-yi will kneel and apologize. Sae-ro-yi does not feel as though he has done wrong and refuses to kneel. He is expelled at the recommendation of Dae-hee and Sae-ro-yi stands behind his son and is forced to resign. Things seem to level out when Sae-ro-yi's father utilizes savings to open a restaurant but tragedy strikes and Sae-ro-yi's father is killed in a traffic accident by, none other, than Geun-won. At first Sae-ro-yi does not know the culprit but when he chances to find out who it was, he nearly beats Dae-won to death and serves a 3 year prison sentence for attempted murder. Sae-ro-yi spends his time studying business toward the goal of opening a competing business, DanBam, and ruining Jangga group. An unlikely group of employees/friends work for Sae-ro-yi and he also has the help of a social media guru, Jo Yi-seo (Kim Da-mi) who, after several chance encounters with the affable Sae-ro-yi vows to stay by his side and help him reach his goals. Sae-ro-yi's school friend and first love, Oh Soo-ah (Kwon Nara) works for the Jangga group and Sae-ro-yi still has feelings for her. Will a school drop out and ex-con be able to pull off the take down of a well established conglomerate like the Jangga group? Will Sae-ro-yi go with his feelings for his old love or is this new woman more of his second half?
Spoiler Altert** This is a great story that reminds of so many other good stories I have seen in the past. It has elements of "The Count of Monte Cristo" and some Rocky Balboa like elements as well. Like his father who the viewer got to know briefly, Sae-ro-yi is one of those rare people who lets nothing deter him from the right path. He is kind to those that deserve it and harsh on those that do harm to others. The people around him make mistakes but he never holds those types of things against them and it causes everyone in his inner circle to like and admire him. At first I was cheering for his first love, to be the FL and main love interest, but as soon as Yi-seo entered the picture I loved her spunk, energy and the way she was all in with whatever she was doing, including her pursuit of Sae-ro-yi. One of his inner circle is transgender and I was surprised that it portrayed the South Korean people as not very tolerant of different sexual identities. She was one of my favorite characters. Another person in his inner circle was black and there was a lot of prejudice about him being a black Korean. I loved how his business model was about his people and how they, as a result, respected him and loved him like family. He accepted them all for the people they were black, transgender, a little bit psycho and helped them realize their own potential. There were some characters tome that did things that did not make sense. Sae-to-hi did change and harden just a bit which is not such a bad thing but did result in him not forgiving to the same level he did in the past. I loved the friendships and the love story. There were some slow parts toward the end where an element of the story was dragged out more than necessary. Very good and I highly recommend.
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Blind revenge is not pretty
This drama kept popping up on the trailers so I eventually got around to watching it. I think culturally this story was a mismatch for me there were more character traits that I disliked than what I liked.From the smiley faced poster I was expecting a lighter story but it kicked off with bullying and went darker as we progressed.
Our hero has some strong caring characteristics but is also quite paternalistic and so focussed on revenge he became unlikable.
His long suffering love interest swung between keeping him interested, reporting him to the police and just blindly following nasty instructions of her boss.
The feisty female lead is fixated on trying to win over our hero who blindly ignores this much younger colleague but is very happy she is helping him in his revenge dream.
I like the transgender character there was so much more in her character that had strong, proud vibes.
The evil elder brother is well played for the weak moral person.
The father has no redeeming features and is nasty to the core.
My cultural background had me shouting at the screen I wanted to shake or slap someone around the head so this reaction made it a drag to finish.
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There are times when you need someone to stand by you
*** Minor Spoilers***The series Iteawon Class follows Park Saeroyi (Park Seo Joon), a high schooler with a dream of becoming a police officer. However, after making critical decisions in high school, his life drastically changes. After arriving in Iteawon, a district known for its vibrant nightlife and clubs, Saeroyi and his friends open a small bar called "DanBam" to redeem himself.
As Park Saeroyi's business rival and nemesis Jang Hee (Yoojae Myung) owns Jangga, a fire competitor and the fuel and marker for Saeroyi, Iteawon Class follows an engaging and fast-paced plot that kept me hooked throughout its 16-episode run. Saeroyi's journey from expulsion to leading DanBam is inspiring. The series looks at ordinary individuals' struggles for justice and dreams. All the characters are great, but other than the two main pub leaders, I found Joy Yi Seo (Kim Da Mi), Ma Yi the chef (Lee Joo Young), Jang Geun Won, the bully (Ahn Bo Hyun) and Park Saeroyi's father Park Yul (Sun Hyun Joo) pivotal. They aren't perfect, they are different people from all walks of life. Pick ten random people at your workplace and try to avoid any clashes of personalities.
The cast delivers pretty convincing performances, bringing the characters to life and making things more relatable. Park Seo-Joon performance as Park Saeroyi showed determination, passion, leadership and charisma. He had that presence and strength about him that positively impacted his team and his personal life. Saeroyi was flawed and suppressed at times; however, when you bring enough passion, the right individual will enter your life and assist you on your path to your destiny.
The Iteawon Class is well-shot from a visual point of view. It had effective cinematography and attention to detail to capture the characters' emotions. The series captures the essence of Iteawon, from its bustling streets to its hidden nooks and crannies. The production design helped a lot. Before the series I really didn't know too much about the area until that Halloween disaster in 2022.
Iteawon Class's music and soundtrack are a big part of the experience. Mood and atmosphere were enhanced by the music choices. Overall, Iteawon Class was an engaging and entertaining drama. Themes of justice, redemption, and friendship and love. To this point the series is locked in at #8 for my all-time best Korean dramas. I don't give it ALL 10's but it resonates well with me!
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One of the best KDramas of 2020!
For those that are sceptical about watching this drama, do yourself a favour and watch it now!! I have only recently finished watching this drama and I can easily say that this is in my top 10!Firstly, I just wanna mention the OST!! Each track matches the scenes really well, particularly Start Over and Stone Block. These two are the ones that I can just listen to or jam in the car all the time. I also love Still Fighting It. Just every time I listen to that song, it’s very uplifting but at the same time it makes me feel nostalgic and sad in a good way.
I love all the characters from the leads to even the supporting characters. Everyone would expect me to choose the ML as my favourite character but the FL is the one that stood out for me. It was sooo refreshing to see a female character who was a badass and can fight back rather than always being a damsel in distress. It was so satisfying watching her scenes. Now although the leads are what makes this drama, we must also give credit to all the supporting characters. They really uplifted the show and gave that light and funny element that we always crave for in dramas, making it a fun and enjoyable watch.
As many of you already know, Itaewon Class is a slice of life type of drama. So don’t expect a big plot with many twists and turns. It has none of that. It has a simple plot and it is very character driven. I know a lot of you get turned off with character driven dramas cause even I do sometimes but this is one of those times where it’s an exception. IT IS WORTH YOUR TIME.
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My favorite scenes (which I really want to rewatch once I tired of living)
🍜Ep 2 00:06:05
Ep 3 00:58:03
Ep 5 00:47:15 00:53:30 00:57:19
Ep 6 00:10:43 00:26:25 00:36:30
Ep 7 00:43:00
Ep 8 00:41:13
Ep 9 00:49:24
Ep 10 00:26:56
Ep 11 00:39:03 00:44:19
Ep 12 00:51:00 00:59:23 01:05:40
Ep 15 00:18:48 00:46:19
Ep 16 00:37:55
At the first time when I heard about this drama, I thought this drama is overrated because there is Park Seo Jun as the main character. THAT'S NOT TRUE. This drama was another level of revenge plot. I would like to rewatch this drama once I feel tired and sad. JJINJA WORTH TO WATCH!
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This review may contain spoilers
One thing I would like to pinpoint was how well this drama handled the sensitive topic of racism, transphobia and orphanity. The mtf trans character was played by a woman which made me really happy since trans women are women and trans men are men just like any cis person. Yeah she was played by cis actress but still it was a development. Tony's character was also nice and I liked the Park Sae Ro Yi was supportive of both of them.The stylists made an amazing job with all the costumes as they were absolute fashion goals!
Overall this was probably my favourite drama of 2020. The sixteenth episode was a bit meh though but overall the drama is worth watching.
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Friendship & Revenge
ITAEWON CLASS (2020) was a fun, fast paced revenge drama filled with quirky characters, with humor, action, drama, friendship, business and teeny bit of romance. This series was really well made and well written, although a bit predictable in some ways (love triangle etc). I watch a lot of series / dramas and find some similar storylines among many of them, especially in revenge dramas. However, I really like the diversity of characters, as well as the bonds of friendship featured throughout."An ex-con opens a street bar in Itaewon, while also seeking revenge on the family who was responsible for his father's death."
Overall, this was a fun Kdrama, and definitely worth the chance. It had heart-warming aspects, as well as humor and drama. Somehow both heart-wrenching and light-hearted. A fun watch & great to see more of South Korea's city of Itaewon in a show.
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best revenge for your enemy is your success
My expectation is high before I started to watch this drama.I love how good the cinematography was, so colourful and feel so fresh. The characters in the drama were interesting enough. some of them have unique and strong characters which is inspiring.
The first episodes make me interested, it tells story about how struggle ML to reach his goal. How big his intention to do the revenge. This drama definitely describe "best revenge for your enemy is your success", that's what the ML was fighting for.
Bu when it comes to the last episodes, there are some of the scenes that were predictable. and I didn't feel interested to watch more, I felt so bored, so I stopped on the episode 15, just because I thought that I know what would be happened, and I was not curious to watch till the end. I'm sorry.
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Started okay, but stopped being interesting
I started this drama because it was really popular at the time, so I thought "oh, it must be good", but I didn't enjoy it.I liked the initial storyline of Seo Joon's character fighting this rich guy's evil son and going to prison for it then vowing revenge, but then the whole plot just kinda falls flat and stops being interesting. You keep thinking something's going to happen that will surprise you and it just doesn't.
I didn't like the character of the female lead at all. She was just annoying. Nothing against the acting there, just hated the character.
Not Park Seo Joon's finest acting, but I guess that's because the script didn't give him much to work with because I think he was alright in Hwarang. His expression just never seemed to change from straight-faced.
But no, from my point of view, I wouldn't watch it again.
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