This review may contain spoilers
So much potential, however..
First I want to say how amazing the cast of this show is. They all have great chemistry with each other and rlly bring their characters to life. Especially Lee Chae-min (Kang Ha) caught my attention from the very start and he truly gained a new fan of his person and acting with me. Did the series have major flaws? Yes. The storyline wasn't able to live up to its full potential, due to bad writing. The love triangle was very unnecessary, since it's unrealistic for a grieving brother to fall in love with the potential murder of ur brother.. just because the girl is pretty. Kang Has revenge should have gotten way more attention and detail. However apart from that each episode was very enjoyable to watch and it never bored me in any way. I hope they are able to do a season 2, where they stop focusing on the romance (or at least in a better way) and start the real journey of Kang Ha with the school.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
WATCH IT! It isn't as bad as what people are saying!!
I saw the many negative reviews but decided to give it a chance and I'm glad I did.IT WAS NOT BAD! It was a simple drama to watch, nothjng special but it was a good type of simple.
I felt the actors did a very very good job. The storyline is the only thing I would have wished more of. The revenge plot was very poorly written. This guy is literally his twin brother. Get your revenge, who cares about the girl?
Then you have also have some sort of twister good villian story going on. Having you confused. I didn't care that they were in love and treat each other good. The fact is they bully the leff fortune. SIMPLE!!!
Again the story was a good 'one' watch.
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All that shines isn't gold.
Hierarchy offers a unique glimpse into the world of South Korea's elite (well, the unreal one, of course), set against the backdrop of a prestigious institution founded by the powerful Jooshin Group. With a compelling premise and an ensemble cast of striking characters, the series promises a blend of love, friendship, revenge, and compassion among eighteen privileged students. However, despite its appealing aesthetics, overall solid performances, and memorable/addictive soundtrack, the storyline falls short, leaving viewers with a sense of emptiness.Visuals and Soundtrack:
The visual appeal of Hierarchy is undeniable. The high production value is evident in the stunning cinematography, which captures the grandeur of the school and its elite lifestyle. The OST is another highlight, perfectly complementing the drama's intense and emotional moments, enhancing the viewing experience.
Characters and Performances:
The cast delivers commendable performances, bringing depth to their characters. Roh Jeong-eui is okayy as Jung Jae-i, the queen of Jooshin High School. Lee Chae-min, as the new scholarship student Kang Ha, brings a mix of charm and mystery, keeping viewers intrigued about his hidden motives. Kim Jae-won portrays Kim Ri-an, the successor to the Jooshin Group, with a pretty-much convincing blend of ambition and vulnerability. Ji Hye-won’s portrayal of Yoon He-ra captures the essence of jealousy and ambition, while Lee Won-jung as Lee Woo-jin offers a refreshing mix of visual appeal and kindness.
Supporting characters add layers to the story. Kim Tae-jung as Choi Yun-seok, the school's top fighter, brings intensity and loyalty. Kwon Eun-bin, Seo Jun, and others provide solid support, enriching the narrative.
Storyline and Execution:
While the premise of Hierarchy is intriguing, it falters in execution. The idea of a school divided by elite status and scholarship students sets up a dynamic plot filled with potential conflicts and alliances. Kang Ha's quest for revenge against those responsible for his brother's death introduces a gripping plot. However, the narrative struggles to maintain coherence and depth. The pacing feels inconsistent, and certain plot points are either underdeveloped or rushed, leaving gaps in the story.
Despite the strong character development and backstories, the series often feels like it is treading familiar territory without offering fresh perspectives or twists. The dialogues and interactions, while engaging, sometimes fail to deliver the emotional punch necessary to elevate the drama. This results in a series that, despite its high points, lacks a certain resonance, making the overall experience somewhat hollow.
Conclusion:
Hierarchy has all the ingredients for a standout drama: a high-stakes environment, complex characters, and a captivating premise. Its visual appeal and soundtrack are top-notch, and the cast delivers strong performances. However, the storyline leaves much to be desired. While it offers moments of brilliance, the series ultimately falls short of its potential, leaving viewers yearning for a more cohesive and impactful narrative. For those intrigued by high school or guilty pleasure dramas, Hierarchy is worth a watch, but be prepared for an experience that, despite its surface appeal, may leave you wanting more.
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youtube ads have better crafted writing
no chemistry between the leads whatsoever.if only they had focused more on acting and plot instead of pretentious glitz and glam maybe then the show would still be redeemable.
the show tried too hard showing the affluent privileged lifestyle which just felt forced and not natural.
they're playing 16-17 year old high school juniors but it feels like you're watching a business show featuring 40+ ahjussi and ajummas.
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No plot!!
I started watching this drama solely for the female lead, as I've enjoyed her performances in previous shows and find her acting quite impressive. However, I was extremely disappointed. The drama began on a promising note, but after episode 4, it consistently went downhill. As someone who enjoys dramas like 'Penthouse,' I had high expectations for this one. Unfortunately, it lacked a solid plot. The only aspect I liked was the background music.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
When I saw the first episode I was so excited, I said "this is going to be a great drama." But slowly my disappointment grew even more. I didn't really mind that the teenagers shared themselves like more adult people. In The Glory, it was perfectly shown that although they were not of legal age, they partied, drank, had sex and smoked. Things that teenagers usually do. The Elite thing didn't bother me either, it is known that if you are the son of a Chaebol family you can escape from everything bad you are doing and if you are a scholarship recipient they will treat you like shit. What bothered me were several things:1. I don't know anything about the protagonist. I don't know if he has a family or how he managed to get into this high "prestige" school. We didn't even know where he lived or anything about his family. Big mistake
2. The separation of the protagonist with the secondary one. It really looked like they were divorced or something and they're teenagers for God's sake!
3. The revenge was never fulfilled and was totally predictable. If they wanted to portray bullying and the power of bullies, they did not succeed.
4. I really don't have much criticism of the actress's performance. I think that she did seem emotionless because she was raised that way, by her father. Even when she opens up to the protagonist she says that it is like that because she has been raised that way and she doesn't know how to act any other way, because of the terror she had of her father. But here there is a problem, I think I am going to disagree with some people but for me she did have chemistry with him ML, but not with his ex-partner.
5. Even though I managed to empathize with FL, her behavior towards her ex-boyfriend became frustrating for me. It was an extremely toxic relationship. He considered her "his", as if she were her property and did horrible things so that no one would come near her. He kept her isolated, like a toy belonging to her. And when ML wanted to go against her partner, she protected him and threatened the protagonist. She is really stupid, and gives an extremely dangerous message
6. "Revenge" was replaced by a failed love triangle.
7. "Emotional dependence." In the end she thanks her ex-boyfriend because according to her she was able to survive thanks to her. That is not surviving, it is emotionally depending on your partner to the point that the relationship became extremely toxic.
8. In the end the "revenge" came to nothing, with a very stupid resolution. What I liked.
1. In my opinion Lee Chae Min, he did a great job as an actor. He actually portrayed very well when he was pretending to be kind and how his features transformed when his hatred or contempt was reborn.
2. I really did see the chemistry between FL and ML, unfortunately this was spoiled thanks to the fact that FL was so obsessed with defending her ex-partner, which was extremely violent and toxic.
3. I think although I would have liked FL and ML to end up together. I think it was a good decision that she won't keep any of them. That she will confront her father, she will lose the fear that she had of him and she will abandon her life of luxury to go find her biological mother and she will decide to live a life without luxury. She needed to find herself and know what she really wanted for herself. You can't properly love anyone if you don't even know what you want or who you really are.
4. The imaging was really beautiful. You can tell they put a lot of budget into this drama but unfortunately if the plot seems like a jumble of things, that's not going to save the drama. In conclusion, I would say that the acting was decent but the drama was very poorly written. Many compare it to Elite, I haven't really seen it because I don't like series in Spanish, so I couldn't talk about that because I haven't seen Elite. I can only compare it to The Glory. The series really had potential but for me it is too greedy to want to create a similar plot with only 9 chapters. If the script had been well written and had 16 chapters, the story would have been different. Unfortunately it was not like that. Do I recommend it? I couldn't say. The first few episodes were interesting and I enjoyed them but if you are looking for a drama that addresses these themes and has romance, I really don't recommend it. And even more so when the obsession and justification for your partner being obsessive, very toxic and violent is highly romanticized.
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Totally wasted my time.
We were promised to something and got nothing.Would litteraly not recommend this to anyone even to my ennemies.
****
The cast is good but personnally the fl and the ml (jae i and kang ha)´s actors are quite always stoic to me 😭.
Btw I find some bibi x Iu traits in jae i and a little of chaewon traits in jae-i’s ´bff’
Before talking about the plot, I just want to say I am so disappointed about this series because Îve been hyped for SOOOO long and watched it as soon as it was released to be feeling like I wasted my whole time on this because everything was tasteless to me : the plot, the characters, the romance and the rich vs poor trope in this way as well….
Now the plot :
The ending of the first episode thickened the whole plot beacuse I thought ML would just be acting naive till the end.
At first I was feeling so bad for ri-an (after the break up) bcuz he seemed nice but then he started acting so full of himself when kang ha approached him but maybe it’s because he knows the link between him and in ha ? He revealed his true colors !
The premise of the series was so boring and cliche (the rebellious kid who is mistreated by her trashy dad, the best friend who is actually nothing more than her best ennemy, the FL’s clique etc). Also the fact that they are rich, that there is a supremacy is overused in the way it is in the series, I don’t know how to explain it but firstly, rich bullying scholarship students is not ´new’ but I love this theme so much in series with its fancy settings but here, everything is cliche as I said before, the rules of not approaching the high class etc…
Btw I hate how they keep casually saying things like ´girls like when….’ etc… as that other guy said to ri an to advise him abt how to get him back to jae-i (ep1) or how jae-i’s ´bff’ says it also.
And tf you mean rian by ´i don’t know how far I would go to GET YOU BACK ´ like she was some kind of object you possess or depending of your will ??
Although they used to form a cute couple, after they broke up (and maybe a little before), you can clearly see he became obssessed with her.
Jae-i´s fathers litteraly deserves to undergo the same he does to his daughter to see if that’s so good being bullied because he messed her up mentally and now she is unfortunately struggling with a few things…😭
The way my jaw dropped when I saw woo-jin and his teacher making out and apparently have spent the night together…
I already hate the romance that from ep 1 was obviously gonna happen between Jae-I and Kang ha bcuz once again I feel like it’s unecesseary (as in most kdramas ?)
I watched this till the end to see if it would get better though I’ve already lost faith in it.
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Do NOT watch it!
One of the worst K-Dramas I’ve ever watched. It’s so poorly written, and the main characters are all unlikeable. There are no genuine male leads. There are 2 MCs and one of them is kinda like a bad guy; pretty unlikeable. The story revolves around a murder mystery, which I personally thought was the only good part about the show. Everything else was quite disappointing. This show has left a very bad taste in my mouth.Was this review helpful to you?
UNDERRATED !!! DESERVES BETTER 10/10⭐️
I don’t understand how this drama has so many bad reviews and low ratings… I fell in love with this drama from just seeing the intro in first episode, that’s where I already knew it’s going to be so good and after that as I just kept seeing episode by episode I kept falling for it even more.I being 100% honest I just can’t think of anything that I didn’t like about it… It’s just that good and seeing so many people not liking it, saying it has no plot etc which is absolutely not true is kinda disappointing so I just wanted to leave at least 1 positive review amongst the many negative ones.
Anyways this drama is labeled as “Limited Series” which basically means it was intended to be only 1 season so there isn’t really much hope for another one but it’s still possible.
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don't listen to mean reviews!!
I liked this, Koreans often bring a level of unpredictability that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, and this one was no exception. It had action, plot was filled with unexpected twists and turns.It’s important to choose shows that align with your personal preferences. If you’re drawn to a particular genre, like action or suspense, you’re more likely to enjoy the series. Watching something solely because it’s trendy may not always result in a satisfying experience. “Hierarchy” resonated with me because it matched my interests, and I could appreciate the depth and creativity that went into its production
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look, even the first 4 episodes(what a i liked), don't were be good, but only interest, something decent to pass time.
i dont recommend this drama for anyone, go watch another thing.
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This review may contain spoilers
An Utter Disappointment...
When I first saw the trailer for this drama, I honestly had a lot of expectations. Because from the trailer, I can already imagine how much budget was spent on this drama in order to get cinematography like that. But what I got instead was a deep disappointment. This drama was not executed well at all.There are several things that need to be applauded here. The first is cinematography and the choice of color filters for each scenes. Appropriate colors are chosen to describe the situation or feelings of the actors. Directing and camera movement are also done very well. The background music for each scene is also well chosen.
Unfortunately, there are more things that deserve criticism from this drama.
Starting from the plot, the story concept is not that bad even though it is quite cliche. The first four episodes are quite good at depicting the hierarchy (well the title is hierarchy indeed) that exists at Jooshin High School, how the male lead adapts and starts to build chemistry with the female lead, plus a little plot twist at the end of the story about the male lead's real identity. But after the fifth episode, everything seemed to crumble down. The male lead who doesn't know whether he should take revenge or prioritize his unrequited love. Plus the female lead who doesn't actually have an important role enough to be called as the main character. Even the supporting actors at least have roles and storylines that are perhaps better than the main characters. The next storyline gets even more chaotic and suddenly the end of the drama arrived, making the viewers dumbfounded. No revenge. No worthy romance. No deep friendship. It's just nothing in the end.
+ The acting of the characters.
The male lead is quite good as a rookie but that's it. He's delivering a quite good acting in some scenes. Nothing more.
The female lead was a robot throughout the 7 episodes, to the point that I couldn't even sympathize with her so called suffering.
The second male lead was just plain. He supposed to be the richest and arrogant richest kid but instead he feels like he is poorer than the poor male lead. Every gestures and expressions of his are far from the one he shoul've had as the only heir of the biggest company in SK.
The supporting lead is just meh. But the one who acted as Hera is quite okay. I could see her potential as a rookie. Some of her scenes are well delivered tho.
In conclusion, if you asked me:
1. Is this a youth drama? No. The content is too explicit to be called a youth drama. Tbh, what kind of youth drama would have a s*x (even though no one were nude), drugs, and alcohol party for a highschooler.
2. Is this an action drama/thriller? No. The most frequent action scene that appears is just a group of kids bullying a transfer student just because they offended the second male lead. It was so lame!
3. Is this a revenge drama? I do not think so. Indeed, the concept of this drama is revenge, but in the end the main character doesn't actually take any revenge.
4. Then is this a romance drama? Not really. Because none of them end up with each other. And it made me wonder if the male lead is really the male lead lol. In the end, it felt like there's only a female lead without any male lead.
So what type of drama is this? To be honest, I'm also confused hahaha
That's why I told you that this drama is an utter disappointment for me.
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