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Watch - Laugh - Enjoy, Nothing More | Comedy Track Standouts in Gold Hunt !
Before going to start the review I would like to present 2 points from my side.
1) I'm a big fan of undercover dramas, and a big fan of NIS dramas. Vagabond drama introduced NIS dramas to me in kdrama. From then on I became a fan of NIS, Undercover, Secret Agents, Spy dramas because of the Writing and Execution of the story- tight plots, layered characters, is simply best with a lot of intense and well cinematographed action scenes, suspenseful mind games, strategic battles,
deep conspiracies make every episode unpredictable and thrilling.
2) But not every drama/story sticks to a serious, high intensity narrative sometimes the makers jump into a different story telling approach like with mix of comedy, mild romance or selected character driven subplots aligning with the core story. The drama's success results depend on the Execution.
Now Undercover High School drama results out, Let's see.
Story 8/10
The core story of the drama is tracking down the whereabouts of Emperor Gojong's missing gold bars. The skilled NIS agent goes undercover operation as a highschool student to track those missing gold bars, but eventually finds that his present undercover operation is interconnected with his father's missing case. He has to deal with two different missions 1) Finding gold bars 2) Uncover the truth behind his father's missing case. The story is looking strong on the page like a serious narrative but the narrative is completely different than what we expect. The writer approached a different way of story telling - aligning the comedy part with the serious narrative line. I can say they succeeded with this comedy track. While the majority of the drama runs with the comedy plot in parallel the story follows the mystery plot. To find the missing gold bars they need to crack down the mysteries behind the 4 stories and take the key hints from those stories. Between 1-4 episodes they mixed the horror elements aside from the school violence part I enjoyed the horror elements and stories behind them. Also elements like standing against school bullying, conflict friendships, main leads love track, father-son story, Brother-Sister bonding, School scenes make the drama enjoyable. For the plot twist - watch it.
Drama - A Good Comedy Entertainer 9/10.
I give 9/10 to the drama. Everything is perfect but somewhere I felt unfinished with some parts like -
weak emotional development in Hae Seong and his father's story. This part is very crucial for the Hae Seong emotional development but giving their story in epilogues made the story emotionally weak, to make the audience emotional this is not enough, except for the funeral scene where it was written poorly. Kim Min Ju's character is a typical k-drama high school one but her part of the story is also poorly written or maybe I expected a strong character from her.
One of the dramas strongest points is no forced romance between main leads. Like everyone, I enjoyed their cute cheese chemistry. Whether they used childhood cliché or not is the secondary thing However their funny chemistry is strong and enough to enjoy more scenes of them.
I give 10/10 for NIS Squad, drama's biggest Asset.
K-dramas are famous for creating memorable trios, squads, or team dynamics, whether in action thrillers, high school dramas, or romance series. We know that these groups often bring a mix of loyalty, humour, emotional depth and betrayal making them an essential part of storytelling.
Undercover High School, this drama gave us another memorable squad with Hae Seong, Mi Jeong, Yeong Hun, Seok Ho. I enjoyed this squad every moment & every scene. Especially in episode 04 & episode 08 their comedy went peak level :). I don't care about other aspects as long as the drama keeps me entering.
Acting 10/10
Every kdrama fan knows actor Lee Kwang Soo, once he said about acting in comedy oriented like this " comedy is one of the hardest genres to act in because it requires perfect timing and natural delivery. Great acting from Yoon Ga Yi, Jo Bok Rae, Jeon Bae Soo.
Seo Kang Joon, this good pick for his comeback drama after his military discharge. Not a complex character to portray, but it is an easy one for him. He acted well according to his character. However watching him in school uniform really made him look cool or Is it only me to think like that.
Decent acting from Jin Ki Joo, She is one of the best actors out there in the Korean Industry. Sad- she might not get hyped for what she really deserves, but her acting is consistently good. She brings a natural and emotional depth to her characters.
Crew Departments.
Screen Writer Lim Young Bin, designed the story very well. He took a unique approach to the traditional NIS, Undercover genre. Instead of focusing solely on high intense action and deep conspiracies he crafted a simple yet high entertaining with funny and lovable characters. Director Choi Jung In did an excellent job in presenting the story and bringing it to the small screen with strong execution and engaging Storytelling. He maintained a smooth pace, and well crafted moments that highlighted both comedic and Undercover elements. This Screen Writer & Director duo succeeded in bringing a highly entertaining drama with a well balanced mix of action, humour and emotion. By skillfully handling the characters and their arcs, they delivered Undercover High School drama that was both entertaining and satisfying. Additionally their every character received a satisfying ending, making the drama even more enjoyable and fulfilling.
Good Cinematography DoP by Kim Seong-han and Jo Min-cheol. Well composed shots and effective lighting.
Music by Park Se Jun, every track is awesome and lyrically beautiful.
Art Directors - Shin Seung-jun and Jeon Yeo-kyung, notable art work in designing Byeongmun High School.
Editing by Kim Mi-kyung and Lee Ga-young.
Overall Undercover High School well rounded drama that perfectly balances comedy, action and humour. It is a highly entertaining package with hilarious moments and heartfelt scenes. This drama is for everyone.
Season 2 possible ?
It's a open ending, we can assume that Hae Seong went to another undercover mission this time as Teacher. Not confirmed by the makers but depending on the ending it is possible and we can expect another season.
1) I'm a big fan of undercover dramas, and a big fan of NIS dramas. Vagabond drama introduced NIS dramas to me in kdrama. From then on I became a fan of NIS, Undercover, Secret Agents, Spy dramas because of the Writing and Execution of the story- tight plots, layered characters, is simply best with a lot of intense and well cinematographed action scenes, suspenseful mind games, strategic battles,
deep conspiracies make every episode unpredictable and thrilling.
2) But not every drama/story sticks to a serious, high intensity narrative sometimes the makers jump into a different story telling approach like with mix of comedy, mild romance or selected character driven subplots aligning with the core story. The drama's success results depend on the Execution.
Now Undercover High School drama results out, Let's see.
Story 8/10
The core story of the drama is tracking down the whereabouts of Emperor Gojong's missing gold bars. The skilled NIS agent goes undercover operation as a highschool student to track those missing gold bars, but eventually finds that his present undercover operation is interconnected with his father's missing case. He has to deal with two different missions 1) Finding gold bars 2) Uncover the truth behind his father's missing case. The story is looking strong on the page like a serious narrative but the narrative is completely different than what we expect. The writer approached a different way of story telling - aligning the comedy part with the serious narrative line. I can say they succeeded with this comedy track. While the majority of the drama runs with the comedy plot in parallel the story follows the mystery plot. To find the missing gold bars they need to crack down the mysteries behind the 4 stories and take the key hints from those stories. Between 1-4 episodes they mixed the horror elements aside from the school violence part I enjoyed the horror elements and stories behind them. Also elements like standing against school bullying, conflict friendships, main leads love track, father-son story, Brother-Sister bonding, School scenes make the drama enjoyable. For the plot twist - watch it.
Drama - A Good Comedy Entertainer 9/10.
I give 9/10 to the drama. Everything is perfect but somewhere I felt unfinished with some parts like -
weak emotional development in Hae Seong and his father's story. This part is very crucial for the Hae Seong emotional development but giving their story in epilogues made the story emotionally weak, to make the audience emotional this is not enough, except for the funeral scene where it was written poorly. Kim Min Ju's character is a typical k-drama high school one but her part of the story is also poorly written or maybe I expected a strong character from her.
One of the dramas strongest points is no forced romance between main leads. Like everyone, I enjoyed their cute cheese chemistry. Whether they used childhood cliché or not is the secondary thing However their funny chemistry is strong and enough to enjoy more scenes of them.
I give 10/10 for NIS Squad, drama's biggest Asset.
K-dramas are famous for creating memorable trios, squads, or team dynamics, whether in action thrillers, high school dramas, or romance series. We know that these groups often bring a mix of loyalty, humour, emotional depth and betrayal making them an essential part of storytelling.
Undercover High School, this drama gave us another memorable squad with Hae Seong, Mi Jeong, Yeong Hun, Seok Ho. I enjoyed this squad every moment & every scene. Especially in episode 04 & episode 08 their comedy went peak level :). I don't care about other aspects as long as the drama keeps me entering.
Acting 10/10
Every kdrama fan knows actor Lee Kwang Soo, once he said about acting in comedy oriented like this " comedy is one of the hardest genres to act in because it requires perfect timing and natural delivery. Great acting from Yoon Ga Yi, Jo Bok Rae, Jeon Bae Soo.
Seo Kang Joon, this good pick for his comeback drama after his military discharge. Not a complex character to portray, but it is an easy one for him. He acted well according to his character. However watching him in school uniform really made him look cool or Is it only me to think like that.
Decent acting from Jin Ki Joo, She is one of the best actors out there in the Korean Industry. Sad- she might not get hyped for what she really deserves, but her acting is consistently good. She brings a natural and emotional depth to her characters.
Crew Departments.
Screen Writer Lim Young Bin, designed the story very well. He took a unique approach to the traditional NIS, Undercover genre. Instead of focusing solely on high intense action and deep conspiracies he crafted a simple yet high entertaining with funny and lovable characters. Director Choi Jung In did an excellent job in presenting the story and bringing it to the small screen with strong execution and engaging Storytelling. He maintained a smooth pace, and well crafted moments that highlighted both comedic and Undercover elements. This Screen Writer & Director duo succeeded in bringing a highly entertaining drama with a well balanced mix of action, humour and emotion. By skillfully handling the characters and their arcs, they delivered Undercover High School drama that was both entertaining and satisfying. Additionally their every character received a satisfying ending, making the drama even more enjoyable and fulfilling.
Good Cinematography DoP by Kim Seong-han and Jo Min-cheol. Well composed shots and effective lighting.
Music by Park Se Jun, every track is awesome and lyrically beautiful.
Art Directors - Shin Seung-jun and Jeon Yeo-kyung, notable art work in designing Byeongmun High School.
Editing by Kim Mi-kyung and Lee Ga-young.
Overall Undercover High School well rounded drama that perfectly balances comedy, action and humour. It is a highly entertaining package with hilarious moments and heartfelt scenes. This drama is for everyone.
Season 2 possible ?
It's a open ending, we can assume that Hae Seong went to another undercover mission this time as Teacher. Not confirmed by the makers but depending on the ending it is possible and we can expect another season.
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