Story: The description is almost totally way off (it only tells very small details that have nothing to do with the real storyline) - It's about 2 teachers who teach a class full of different types of students - smart students, students who don't care, bullies, and our main ones who have a love/hate type of relationship. The teachers deal with problems that come about in their classroom and try to encourage the students to do well and keep coming to school. It's a really touching school drama. All the different things that happen keeps you totally engaged in the drama. The main thing that kept me totally involved in the storyline was LJS & KWB's relationship - I wanted to know more about what happened between them :)
Cast: Go Nam Soon (Lee Jong Suk) My favorite character <3 both him and Park Heung Soo (Kim Woo Bin) had the best scenes together - I cried, I laughed and loved the bromance & the hurtful scenes between them. Jung In Jae (Jang Nara) She deserves the best teacher award - she was so compassionate and loving towards her students <3 Kang Se Chen (Daniel Choi) a somewhat rude & cold teacher who is touched by In Jae's way of teaching & caring for her students - they team up & run the class together ;) Oh Jung Ho (Kwak Jung Wook) the most troubled student and the one you feel like wanting to care for and mother the most lol - Other "supporting characters" that I enjoyed: Lee Ji Hoon, Lee Yi Kyung, Song Ha Kyung, Lee Kang Joo, Han Young Woo, & Kim Min Ki.
Music: Don't Think You're Alone by Kim Bo Kyung was my absolute favorite song on this drama <3
Re-watch Value: 8/10 I'll definitely re-watch this drama again, It was so good!
I highly recommend anyone who hasn't watched this drama and are a fan of any of the actors/actresses or if you are a school drama fan, then this is one you don't want to miss.
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This review may contain spoilers
"Even the most beautiful flower has been rained on"
I watched the Thai remake (High School Frenemy) before finally getting to the original version, so a lot of my commentary will apply to and be similar to the remake since the themes are pretty much the same. I'm a big fan of coming of age stories and stories that focuses on friendship, family, and the struggles of life. School 2013 has been on my list of things to watch for a long time, but I never got around to it, and I regret not seeing it sooner. It term of this genre, I would consider this a nostalgic classic.-------------------------------------------
● SHORT REVIEW
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[ --LIKES-- ]
✔ A lot of the characters had great character developments. Aside from our main leads, I really enjoyed seeing the former bullies' development as well.
✔ Many great lessons about friendship and many sweet moments.
✔ Amazing bromances/friendships. Not only between Heung Soo and Nam Soon, but also between Jung Ho, Ji Hoon, and Yi Kyung. Also Teacher Kang's relationship with the guys. Ha Gyeong/Kyung (not sure which way to spell it since it's spelled differently in the subtitles on Viki vs here in the cast list) and her friend Kang Joo also had some nice moments. Also Na Ri and her friend.
✔ I think my favorite parts are after Jung Ho begins to redeem himself. Heung Soo and Nam Soon are already awkward enough sitting together at lunch, it's funny when Jung Ho inserts himself in. It's somewhat endearing.
[ --DISLIKES-- ]
✖ A lot of school politics between the teachers, principal, and parents. I know this is important to develop the relationship between the teachers and students and to have them face different trials, but I wasn't as interested in the politics between the adults.
✖ Wished we got more backstory for some of the characters and students
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● IN-DEPTH REVIEW
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[ --STORY/PLOT-- ]
Society is cold and harsh. We are taught to live in it, cope with it, and become a part of it. It's the way society is, and we conform to it or be scrutinized. It's a world that value academics, intelligence, and achievements. Because of this, students are under a lot of pressure from their parents and teachers. If they don't do/perform well, they think they've failed. If they don't come from a good background, they are at a disadvantage in a world where money and connections open doors. It's already hard enough without society judging you based on your family status, your smarts, and even how you look. Some kids just give up because they think they're not in a position to dream in such a competitive and judgmental world. It can feel like the world is against them. It becomes even more cold when teacher emphasize the importance of exams and based their teaching method around that. In such a world where both society and the school system may fail the student, teachers like Teacher Jung are important.
This series shows us that having a teacher like Teacher Jung who care about a student more on a personal level than a professional/academic level will have a greater impact on a student and their future than one who just teaches by the book. A good teacher will just teach us the material we need to pass our exams and get into a decent school. However, a great teacher is one who motivates us and inspires us to be better and do better. It's someone who teaches us how to live life. They are someone who change the way things are in a positive direction instead of accepting things as they are. Teacher Jung was willing to go out of her way to make sure her students are given a fair opportunity to attend school and learn whereas others may have given up on them.
The strive to be better is one of the big common theme in this drama. Heung Soo wanted to chase his dream of becoming a professional soccer player. To do so, he had to strive to be better and leave the gang he was in. His friend Nam Soon, feeling betrayed and like he was being abandoned, in a heated moment, accidentally went too far and broke Heung Soo's leg. This lead the duo to fall apart and become estranged. Heung lost both his dream and his best friend in the same night resulting in his anger and resentment towards Nam Soon years later. Nam Soon feels a lot of guilt and Heung Soo feels a lot of hurt. Nam Soon does his best to make it up to his former best friend and strives to be a better friend after abandoning Heung Soo years ago.
Ji Hoon was the first amongst the trio of bullies to try and be better and one of my favorite developments. Tired of aimlessly following Jung Ho and getting into trouble, Ji Hoon aims to live life more normally. He attends and focuses on school. Even when told that it was too late (for vocational school), he still tries as he wants to do better. He doesn't leave his friends behind though, which I loved. He tries to convince them to join him in school and even seeks the teacher's help to do so. He is shown to care about his friends, to actually care about his studies, and even show remorse for past actions. There was a scene where he asked Min Ki to borrow notes. There was also one where he apologized to Young Woo for past actions, showing his sincere growth.
Amongst all the characters, Jung Ho also had the most substantial development. In the beginning, he was just a bully. But as the series progress, we can see more and more that beneath the tough exterior, there was a decent guy. With the encouragement of his friends and teacher, he slowly begin to try and be better. It's especially hard when society have some bias towards you, and you need time to prove your redemption because you were a troublemaker. Despite that, Jung Ho still tried and that is commendable. Even though, ultimately, life got in the way of him pursing school, he matured a lot and promised to live well.
Even Teacher Kang, due to Teacher Jung's influence, became a more compassionate and caring teacher to his students and took interest in their personal problems. A tragedy in his past made him not want to be too involved but Jung's devotion opens him up again. Personal issues can affect academic and school life, so I think it's important to have a teacher who cares enough to take interest. Striving to be a defender for the students you teach is an admirable trait I wish more teachers had.
In episode 10, during a lesson, Teacher Jung read a poem about flowers needing to be shaken to blossom. Amongst the lines, there was a quote that resonated with me. "Even the most beautiful flower has been rained on," was a translated line in the poem that Teacher Jung read. It's a metaphor how adversity and hardship helps us grows and become more beautiful/better. The flower has to endure the wind and rain in order to blossom. But I think, in reality and some cases, if shaken too much, the flower can also wither as they can't handle the trauma of being vigorously shaken. A similar comparable quote is "The boiling water that softens the potato, hardens the egg." Adversity shapes us differently depending on who we are. Similarly, not everyone can handle the hardship. However, if they can endure it, they may come out better because of it. I think this is a great general lesson about life and relationships. Some will make it, some may not, but we should try. Strive to be better. Strive to make amends. Strive for more understanding and empathy. Strive for change instead of conforming to and accepting the unfairness of how things are.
[ --ACTING/CAST-- ]
I enjoyed the cast a lot. Many great actors and actresses I've seen before and they didn't disappoint. I enjoyed the chemistry between the characters and they all did a great job portraying depth and emotions. There were many times where my eyes were teary. Whether they played an angsty student, an overbearing parent/principal, a nonchalant teacher or a caring one, they all plays a great job in their roles. It's somewhat of a big cast with lots of supporting/background students, so it's hard to give a story and memorable screen time to everyone, but big shoutout to all the students who made the class feel alive and like an actual rowdy classroom.
[ --MUSIC/OST-- ]
I'll be honest, the music wasn't that memorable to me, other than towards the end of an episode, when suddenly the music would switch up. It wouldn't quite fit the tone of what just happened in the last scene of the episode and was a bit jarring. Other than that, there really isn't anything that comes to mind or anything I had to look up to add to a playlist. Just lots of ok background instrumentals.
[ --REWATCH VALUE-- ]
Again, I'll be honest. I am more likely to watch the Thai remake on my own rather than this version. However, I would re-watch this if I had someone to re-watch this with. If I someday do feel like watching it again on my own, I'd probably start in the middle and skip the first half. The actors are great and the story is good, but I feel like the remake had more action whereas this one was more dialogue-heavy.
[ --FINAL THOUGHTS-- ]
So this is where I compare and contrast a bit between this series and High School Frenemy. For the most part, they both do a good job at hitting the emotions and angst. I think the Thai version was more violent only because they changed the story a bit where two rival schools was being unified, and that caused confrontations. It also featured the outside of school gang a lot more significantly. The remake had more actual fight scenes and that made it more compelling for me to watch. They both also had cute moments but I also enjoyed the cute moments in High School Frenemy more. I think because I enjoy Sky/Nani chemistry a bit more than Jongsuk/Woobin. Both great, I just prefer one over the other. With that said, School 2013, I think, had better character developments. At least, I could see the transitional change-of-heart stage better and how the teachers actually impacted them in a clearer way. I think Ji Hoon and his Thai counterpart Knot (I think. Forgot if it was Knot or Nate) is a good example of this. Also while Ken did have a more memorable scene for me when everyone was trying to get him back to school, I enjoyed Jung Ho's development more than his Thai counterpart Ken's. The growth was more evident to me, although in this version, his ending leaves a bit of sadness. The method that Teacher Kang used to help the lead boys reconcile also made more sense in this version with them playing basketball together.
Overall, School 2013 was a great watch and I recommend at least seeing it once if you don't care about romance. The lack of romance is not the lack of chemistry as there is plenty of chemistry happening. It's a great bromance/friendship series with great insights on the struggles of being a student and contains many life lessons. It's a thought provoking drama that covers many topics relating to school and society. I'll probably go and check out the synopsis for the other prequels/sequels in the School series to see if there are any others I'd want to see. School 2017 was the only other one I saw before this.
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● NOTE
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I'll always conclude my review by saying that ratings and reviews is not really a indicator of whether you may enjoy something. We all have different criteria and standards. Don't let a bad rating, review, or comment discourage you from watching something. My advice will always be to give something a chance if the premise interests you, and only use the ratings/reviews to determine priority if you have a list, or if you're deciding if you want to continue it due to time limitations.
♥ Thanks for reading my review! Feel free to comment or hit me up if you want to discuss anything ♥
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I immensely enjoyed the story. It gave me a view of what school life is in Korea. There is so much different between Korean & Australian high school that I was actually surprised. In Australia our grades are not just based on our results from exams but also through participation & co-operation in class.
What I found really amusing was that teachers & student could contact each other through personal mobile. That kind of communication is not allowed here, if the teacher wanted to contact us they have to go through the school and do it. That was kind of a cultural shock for me.
There is no doubt stereotypes of bullies played out in this drama. Not all bullies come from a poor family or have problems at home. I hate to admit it, some bullies don't change even as an adult. Despite that fact, the drama does show that bullies can change bit by bit. It's a good thing but it doesn't necessarily reflect real life.
Even though I enjoyed the story, I don't like how fast it went on the last episode. I feel like this drama should have been extended, it needed to be extended! It felt so rushed.
Acting/Cast:
How good was the cast! Everyone played their role so damn well! The bromance between Nam Soon & Heung Soon just highlighted this drama for me.
Music:
I wasn't really paying attention to the music until the last episode.
Rewatch Value:
I would want to watch it again a second time. There might be things that I missed!
Overall:
This drama is different from a lot of dramas I've watched. It feels like a Japanese drama because its based ons school life and deals with real issues facing teens today. I'm like a romance junkie and for me to watch this type of dramas is rare. Even though there is no romance, there are inklings of romance starting to bloom (Nam Soon & Ha Kyung; Teacher Chan & Jang) which will satisfy you. It's a drama that deals with issues faced in society today. It makes you question yourself (if you attend school), Why do you go to school?
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I find the story very good in this drama, its very intense! But that makes the drama good! Its also very realistic, so realistic you can relate to a lot of stuff in this drama. I think this is what makes the drama so insanely good, having a too unrealistic story can sometimes be quite hard to relate to and you don't quite understand the feeling that the character is having unlike in this drama, there are so many characters living with different types of families and life situations, an alcoholic and abusive parent, a mom who is really pushy with studies and school, a parent who's never home, divorced parents, no money, bullying, fights, friendship problems, every type of life situation you could think of.
In the drama you don't only see how the students are having it, but also the problems the teachers are facing, making big decisions as a teacher etc etc.
HOWEVER, although this is a high school drama, don't expect romance (as for yet..). If you're a person really into romance dramas (like me!) please don't let this drama down even if there isn't really any romance, you will seriously NOT regret it!
Moving onnnnn.... Starting with the cast of this drama, I don't believe they could've picked a better cast, I simply cannot imagine the characters being played by any other actor. They are all PERFECT for their roles, oh and not to mention a lot of them are very good looking! Not only that, their acting is sooo good too!! These guys can actually cry! And I mean GUYS! Even the bad boy guys are crying (well their eyes are getting all teary and swollen)! Like can you believe that?! Sometimes acting out crying can be very tricky, it either turns out too fake and dramatic or too emotionless, but these guys just hit it spot on! Every time they cry, you WILL cry too because their acting is so emotional and realistic. So prepare to have a pillow to hug and some tissues if you're gonna watch it!
Another very good act they do is jealousy and fear, they don't even have to use their whole face to make the expression, you can see the expression in their eyes! This is also a very skillful thing in acting as many don't completely get this right in some other dramas I've watched.
HOWEVER... There are some characters(very few) who you will find ANNOYING.. In many dramas you will quite often find that one annoying mean girl bitch, but luckily you don't get to see her that much (phew, hate those characters..).
So really about the cast and acting, I was surprised by the amazing acting as many of the actors are very young (not like that makes them any bad, but more inexperienced I'd say) and it seems like this is their first drama they're acting in so I'm quite amazed by their good acting.
As for the music, I don't exactly pay much attention to that so I'm afraid I can't say much about it, except that it wasn't bad..
And Rewatch Value, I will most likely watch this drama over and over again once it ends.
Overall I give this drama a 10 as it has become my favorite drama so far out of all (somewhere over) 70ish dramas I've watched. This is seriously a MUST WATCH drama! You just HAVE TO watch it! It IS an intense and a tear jerking drama, but also has its cute and funny moments every now and then that may make you giggle.
By the way, if you like dramas like Gokusen and GTO you will most DEFIANTLY like this drama. Actually, if you will most likely like School 2013, whichever drama you like, you will like this one too! Oh and not only younger people, even adults!
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First of all, the beginning was amazing and we quickly became addicted ! BUT WTF with this ENd ?! -_-'
The problem was not in the cast, because there are very good ! I love all of them ! We could feel the friendship between the student and the teachers !
The music was good ... Kim Bo Kyung is a very great singer !
The Story ! Yess ... For sure, the beginning was very good and the middle too ... The stories were good and there was some funny scenes !
But The end wasn't good at all !!
I'll give you my impression. For me, the filmmakers did not know how to finish the drama ... then they soon find an end! But I always felt that there was no final! The last scene does not cut anything! This is why I am disappointed!
Bur I give an 8 thanks to the beginning and Thanks to the cast !
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What I liked the most is that it showed you how korean schools really are. I also liked the interaction the students had with each other. The problems of them seemed realistic too.
When I found out that the writers cut out all of the romance I was kind of dissapointed because I'm a romance addict and liked it in most of the stuff I watched. This also made me a little worried about still likeing the show.
But while watching I didn't notice that the romance was missing because the story really caught my attention espacially because I'm a student myself. Of course that doesen't mean that people that are older can't watch it.
And instead of romance we got to see a lot of bromance.
Overall School 2013 is a rally good drama which gets you hooked from it's first episode and is highly recommendable.
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What I liked about this drama was that it was very different from other dramas that I've watched. This involved actual problems that happen at schools whether it's in Korea or the US. It talks about bullying, cheating, trying to do well in school, being lonely and friendship. I think this is the first drama where I cried a lot even though it wasn't a romance story. While I was watching this, I could relate to some of the problems that were addressed in the drama. And I think that's why I cried even more. I really did not expect that I would cry at a drama that doesn't focus on love.
Almost all the actors do a really good job at playing their role, whether it's to be a really snobby girl, a shy person, or a bully. Almost all the characters makes me rethink how I thought of other people such as people who are mean or successful. I think what I've realized through this drama is that everyone has a reason that they are who they are.
Overall, this is an amazing drama that connects with you and you should watch this drama whenever you have time.
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Overall I really enjoyed this drama. I think the amount of friendship throughout the episodes was very strong and it made you feel really good about it. I enjoyed side story lines of other friendships, such as Na Ri's friendship. However I would have liked it if they focused on Nam Soon and Heung Soo's friendship more as I felt it gave the most affect on me and how I feel about the drama.
I was unsure about the large amount of focus this drama had on the teachers. I am not sure if I liked so much story line focused around them or if I would rather it be more about the story line. Either way I would have liked their friendship to have grown closer and have some kind of a result in the end as I found it kind of vague and quickly wrapped up.
I enjoyed the way they introduced characters and how they built on so many different students' stories. Especially Ji Hoon and the development of his character. But I will once again say I wish they focused on Nam Soon and Heung Soo's relationship more as I found this to be the most powerful.
As for the cast, I enjoyed most of the characters, especially I think the students were picked out well. I was impressed by the amount of famous actors and actresses they had. However I am unsure about Choi Daniel who played Teacher Kang. I felt that someone else could have played that role better.
I do not normally enjoy high school dramas much as I find the structure of them to be repetitive, so at the start I was unsure. But the thrilling relationships being introduced got me hooked and I am very happy I watched this drama. It is filled with friendship and relatable problems that will make you connect emotionally with the story.
Also.... Lee Jong Suk <3333333333
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I've seen many feeling insecure whether they should watch it or not. My opinion? watch it.
The first episodes seem confusing, you may get bored, but that's until you understand the meaning of this drama. There's an absence of romance which I totally find cool, because its focus is on deeper situations.
Plot; yes, I loved the story. Each character expressing a different story. Their background stories were colorful & more than just interesting. What's more than that, the reality they've captured in this drama. Schools can be scarier than that these days & it's good someone got the courage to point it out. The thing is, they didn't just throw light on it, they showed how hope can be found even at the last minute.
About the acting, I could say that it was pretty successful. I can't hide my love for Kim Woo Bin & Lee Jong Suk( and I loved Kwak Jung Wook's character by time ). Other than that, they all got to transfer the feelings of their characters to the viewer's hearts ( & that's pure talent ).
Music didn't play a big role, but the theme song is surely a must listen. The lyrics were touching.
To sum it all up, this drama is precious.
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- I love the the dark and more realistic tone of the drama; unlike many Korean high school dramas that are generally about love lines and light fluffy tales this drama is made in a sense that everything occurring is possible in the real world no matter how far fetched it maybe.
- I love that the supporting cast members are given a greater importance and that they are their own individuals as appose to being so and so's friend.
- I love that the characters aren't written to be one dimensional; all/any character are allowed to make mistakes or even being simply bad but are still viewed as humans.
-And lastly I love that it presents real problems just as they are without being candid or showing just a small fraction of the problem.
I would recommend this drama to those looking for that is dramatic without needing to roll their eyes in every episode.
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With that being said, I don’t think anything in this drama really made it stand out from all the other school ones I’ve watched — it had pretty similar plot points and characters, most of which were the stereotypical bullies.
I also havesuch MIXED emotions about the ending! There was an extra special episode on Viki so I thought there were 17 episodes and by the end of 16 I was still thinking, yep, one more episode and everything can get wrapped up. Maybe I’m a fan of neat endings and wasn't emotionally ready for the bittersweet open-ended type. The more I think about it, the more I like it, but it still threw me off.
I also honestly really liked the pacing of the entire drama. There’s no single overarching plot with a climax and a resolution, it’s really all just about students trying to get through life (with a wee bit of baggage).
I'm not one to rewatch dramas, but this one might be a future one. And ultimately, I gotta say I’m surprised that all the guys really grew on me ( even if it took a while to get there) and Namsoon/Woobin friendship was so worth it.
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