This review may contain spoilers
Another doomed Yuri
Like all other dramas, the start is the best.
The screenwriters use an interesting choice of narrative to start each episode up until Episode 8, but after that, it starts to feel like a completely different genre.
I went into this wondering if it might be another Pyramid Game, but unfortunately, the world-building in Friendly Rivalry is not contained whatsoever and keeps expanding on subtle intuitive shots that lead you down dead ends.
That being said, I was hooked and continued to be hooked until around Episode 13/14 when I really felt that drop off in terms of there being so many questions but not enough time to develop meaningful answers. 16 Episodes is plenty of time, but they didn't quite use it wisely in my opinion.
For example, why build up so much between Yeri and Byeong-jin? If Byeong-jin wanted to take over J Medical Center what was the point of working in tandem with Tae-gun? Why did Jae-yi suddenly cherish Je-na only when she did something bad?
Acting:
Phenomenal acting from Hyeri aka the Nation's Little Sister, and from Oh Woori. Chung Soo-bin played well as Seulgi but I wish we saw more emotion from her. (Like what we saw at the end). Seulgi cares deeply for Jae-yi towards the end of the show, and I wish we got to see her unravel as her past and present come colliding. The chemistry between Seulgi and Jae-yi is beautifully done in the first four episodes, setting up their complicated relationship, PARTICULARLY, Episode 3 (if you know, you know).
Music:
Good music choices all around.
Rewatch value:
Best believe I will be rewatching. And visiting Ao3 for some Jaeyi/Seulgi content that will feed me better than this show. I'm just disappointed we got yuri-baited this hard. They built up so much, and seemed to switch it up towards the end.
The screenwriters use an interesting choice of narrative to start each episode up until Episode 8, but after that, it starts to feel like a completely different genre.
I went into this wondering if it might be another Pyramid Game, but unfortunately, the world-building in Friendly Rivalry is not contained whatsoever and keeps expanding on subtle intuitive shots that lead you down dead ends.
That being said, I was hooked and continued to be hooked until around Episode 13/14 when I really felt that drop off in terms of there being so many questions but not enough time to develop meaningful answers. 16 Episodes is plenty of time, but they didn't quite use it wisely in my opinion.
For example, why build up so much between Yeri and Byeong-jin? If Byeong-jin wanted to take over J Medical Center what was the point of working in tandem with Tae-gun? Why did Jae-yi suddenly cherish Je-na only when she did something bad?
Acting:
Phenomenal acting from Hyeri aka the Nation's Little Sister, and from Oh Woori. Chung Soo-bin played well as Seulgi but I wish we saw more emotion from her. (Like what we saw at the end). Seulgi cares deeply for Jae-yi towards the end of the show, and I wish we got to see her unravel as her past and present come colliding. The chemistry between Seulgi and Jae-yi is beautifully done in the first four episodes, setting up their complicated relationship, PARTICULARLY, Episode 3 (if you know, you know).
Music:
Good music choices all around.
Rewatch value:
Best believe I will be rewatching. And visiting Ao3 for some Jaeyi/Seulgi content that will feed me better than this show. I'm just disappointed we got yuri-baited this hard. They built up so much, and seemed to switch it up towards the end.
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