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Fresh Ride From Gangs To Grades - A Fresh Take On High School dramas, Action packed & Entertaining
Study Group - Unexpected Banger.
High School dramas are very popular in Kdrama. I'm not sure which drama originally started trend but my first High school kdrama is School 2017, I loved it I mean the High School genre & drama too. Throughout the years this High School genre has introduced various types of dramas Including Psychological, Thriller, Crime, Mystery, Coming Age Love Friendship themes etc etc.
While some dramas became huge hit on other hand some dramas failed to entertain like for several reasons: Cliched & Overused tropes, Unnecessary length & dragging plot, Weak writing & poor character development. Whatever the reasons may be this time a drama released with mix of Comedy - Action High school drama. Let's see whether this Drama really good entertainer or just another overhyped one.
I didn't read the webtoon. So I'm not sure how much the drama stays true to the original or what differences exist between them. This is my solo review based solely on the drama.
THE STORY FEELS FRESH - 8.5
◉ As I said earlier this is a mix of Comedy - action drama but also the drama focus on Studies, Student Life part, while other elements like Friendship, Life are life deeply blended with those. The story is just a typical k-drama plot that revolves around high school bullying with main characters standing up against it. But the core story feels quite fresh _ group of main characters wants to form a Study Group in a school which is famous for producing students as coming gangsters (this line was used in the drama) rather than putting efforts into students education and Teacher trying to change it with the help of Study Group I liked this point. From the first episode the story telling is engaging, director & writer's flawless approach to story narration is one of the Drama's strongest point. I don't know about others but for me another strongest point of the is that drama runs without any love track. It solely focus on the main story. At first I was expecting a love track between the main leads, but as the episodes progressed, I felt drama was boring without a love story. However the comedy track & action scenes gave me solid entertainment instead of a love track, and after a few episodes, I realized it was good decision not portraying love track in this drama, because if there had been one it would felt forced. And friendship between the main leads is perfectly portrayed.
ACTING - 9.5
◉ Drama itself carries relatable characters & a philosophical touch related to student life. ◉
- The main character Yun Ga Min is a student who never gives up. His character motives are truly inspirational, showcasing that students can be both mentally and physically strong. Hwang Min Hyun just perfect person for this role. His acting is superb & especially in action scenes.
- Han Ji Eun as Teacher Lee Han Gyeong given well settled perfomance, trying to change the school culture & environment by taking responsibility to form Study Group in order to bring education life instead of mob life for the students.
- Shin Su Eun as twin sister Lee Ji Eu who is trying to spend ordinary student life, suffering from her twin brother crimes still mentally & physically strong in every moment. Shin Au Eun given extraordinary character performance as a badass student. Loved her action scenes.
- Other main character actors - Lee Jong Hyun as Kim Se Hyeon, Yoon Sung Jung as Choi Hui Won, Gong Do Yu as Lee Jun all are given noteworthy performance.
I loved this actor in his last drama and became his fan. I was waiting for him in every episode but later realized he was not the main lead to get more screen time. Even though with the small amount of screen time, this actor created a huge impact on the drama and became one of the drama's favorite characters. This is my personal opinion, and at some point I thought, why don't writers change the actual story by setting his character as the main character because his charming presence and good acting make the drama even more entertaining. But to my surprise, someone said his character is one of the main characters in the S2 webtoon, and now I'm waiting for S2 of this drama. He had the full potential to become a top & great actor. I hope he picks good projects to work on and doesn't waste his potential as an actor. And his name is Hong Min Ki.
◉ Crew Departments:-
Nice cinematography. Soundtrack is a banger and perfectly aligned with orginal scenes in the drama.
FINAL RATING - 9.0
Final Talk:-
Drama is solid entertainer; on the other hand, it had some dull moments in some episodes in the second half, but the grandfather episode kicks them out, and it was emotionally well created. Comedy parts are perfectly delivered. Action scenes are cool, but for me, it lacks originality because the kicks are unrealistically strong, as if our main character has some supernatural powers, but I loved it. Also, they recreated some Ji Chang-wook dramas famous action scenes in this drama. In Ep 5 & 8. Story narration is engaging and well paced.
Study Group succeed in delivering a unique high school drama experience through both it's acting & writing.
High School dramas are very popular in Kdrama. I'm not sure which drama originally started trend but my first High school kdrama is School 2017, I loved it I mean the High School genre & drama too. Throughout the years this High School genre has introduced various types of dramas Including Psychological, Thriller, Crime, Mystery, Coming Age Love Friendship themes etc etc.
While some dramas became huge hit on other hand some dramas failed to entertain like for several reasons: Cliched & Overused tropes, Unnecessary length & dragging plot, Weak writing & poor character development. Whatever the reasons may be this time a drama released with mix of Comedy - Action High school drama. Let's see whether this Drama really good entertainer or just another overhyped one.
I didn't read the webtoon. So I'm not sure how much the drama stays true to the original or what differences exist between them. This is my solo review based solely on the drama.
THE STORY FEELS FRESH - 8.5
◉ As I said earlier this is a mix of Comedy - action drama but also the drama focus on Studies, Student Life part, while other elements like Friendship, Life are life deeply blended with those. The story is just a typical k-drama plot that revolves around high school bullying with main characters standing up against it. But the core story feels quite fresh _ group of main characters wants to form a Study Group in a school which is famous for producing students as coming gangsters (this line was used in the drama) rather than putting efforts into students education and Teacher trying to change it with the help of Study Group I liked this point. From the first episode the story telling is engaging, director & writer's flawless approach to story narration is one of the Drama's strongest point. I don't know about others but for me another strongest point of the is that drama runs without any love track. It solely focus on the main story. At first I was expecting a love track between the main leads, but as the episodes progressed, I felt drama was boring without a love story. However the comedy track & action scenes gave me solid entertainment instead of a love track, and after a few episodes, I realized it was good decision not portraying love track in this drama, because if there had been one it would felt forced. And friendship between the main leads is perfectly portrayed.
ACTING - 9.5
◉ Drama itself carries relatable characters & a philosophical touch related to student life. ◉
- The main character Yun Ga Min is a student who never gives up. His character motives are truly inspirational, showcasing that students can be both mentally and physically strong. Hwang Min Hyun just perfect person for this role. His acting is superb & especially in action scenes.
- Han Ji Eun as Teacher Lee Han Gyeong given well settled perfomance, trying to change the school culture & environment by taking responsibility to form Study Group in order to bring education life instead of mob life for the students.
- Shin Su Eun as twin sister Lee Ji Eu who is trying to spend ordinary student life, suffering from her twin brother crimes still mentally & physically strong in every moment. Shin Au Eun given extraordinary character performance as a badass student. Loved her action scenes.
- Other main character actors - Lee Jong Hyun as Kim Se Hyeon, Yoon Sung Jung as Choi Hui Won, Gong Do Yu as Lee Jun all are given noteworthy performance.
I loved this actor in his last drama and became his fan. I was waiting for him in every episode but later realized he was not the main lead to get more screen time. Even though with the small amount of screen time, this actor created a huge impact on the drama and became one of the drama's favorite characters. This is my personal opinion, and at some point I thought, why don't writers change the actual story by setting his character as the main character because his charming presence and good acting make the drama even more entertaining. But to my surprise, someone said his character is one of the main characters in the S2 webtoon, and now I'm waiting for S2 of this drama. He had the full potential to become a top & great actor. I hope he picks good projects to work on and doesn't waste his potential as an actor. And his name is Hong Min Ki.
◉ Crew Departments:-
Nice cinematography. Soundtrack is a banger and perfectly aligned with orginal scenes in the drama.
FINAL RATING - 9.0
Final Talk:-
Drama is solid entertainer; on the other hand, it had some dull moments in some episodes in the second half, but the grandfather episode kicks them out, and it was emotionally well created. Comedy parts are perfectly delivered. Action scenes are cool, but for me, it lacks originality because the kicks are unrealistically strong, as if our main character has some supernatural powers, but I loved it. Also, they recreated some Ji Chang-wook dramas famous action scenes in this drama. In Ep 5 & 8. Story narration is engaging and well paced.
Study Group succeed in delivering a unique high school drama experience through both it's acting & writing.
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