This review may contain spoilers
Don't Miss Out This Quirky Gem!
FYI, 'Study Group' is a brand new K-drama revolving around school life and so on, which is adapted from a webtoon with the same name. A lot of people claim that it has similar vibes to 'Weak Hero Class 1', with the former being darker and leaning heavily on psychological issues (if you know what I mean), while the latter mixes a fair amount of mystery and comedy and action, which, undoubtedly, engages the watchers from the get go.
The story tells us about Yoon Ga-min, an ordinary boy who wants to study so badly, but is only good in fighting. Despite facing numerous setbacks, Ga-min is very determined to set up a study group of his own and recruit students who have passions for studying (so that he can take inspiration from them). The chaotic band also includes the intelligent and cool-headed Kim Se-hyun, the adorable Choi Hee-won, the badass judo practitioner Lee Ji-woo, the tenacious Lee Jun, and of course Ga-min's homeroom teacher, Lee Han-kyung.
However, their journey is far from smooth as they have to confront numerous obstacles from opposing students and teachers, especially the respected son of the YB Group (a mafia organization, to be precise) Phi Han-wool, who is determined to make them as miserable as he can.
'Study Group' can be categorized as a very refreshing K-drama where the script is fleshed out in a quirky kind of way, instead of taking the usual route of a common K-drama. The dialogue between the characters is neither bland nor cheesy too, which makes watcher easier to relate with them. Academic stuffs and brawls aside, 'Study Group' also tackles the mundane social issues such as poverty (Kim Sun-cheol and his grandpa's arc is quite a heartbreaking one), the loss of a loved one (the scene where Ga-min's mother supports Ms. Lee after Ms. Jeong-hwa's funeral (Ms. Lee's teacher)), abusive parents (Se-hyun's jaded relationship with his father), and etc.
As a webtoon reader, I'd delved into its webtoon version before and surprisingly, the twists and turns are done right, by ending every episode in a cliffhanger so that the watchers becomes more addictive through the following weeks. Given it only has 10 episodes, I'm sure there's going to be another season of 'Study Group' as the stack gets higher for Ga-min and his comrades (for reference, check out the season 2 and 3 of the webtoon version).
The acting is wonderfully phenomenal especially Hwang Min-hyun's. I never imagine that he can pull off Ga-min's character seasmlessly, given his so-so performance in 'My Lovely Liar' (which I dropped after ep 4). I must also appreciate Min-hyun's mastery of martial arts in this series, because from what I see in the webtoon, Ga-min's uncle's forbidden tricks are very tricky to be performed. The rest of the casts do well too, though it'll be quite difficult for me to add every single name lol.
OSTs are average (I still prefer my super wild playlist of K-pop songs), while the cinematography, costumes, fighting scenes, and background settings give us a breath of refreshing air after a bunch of humdrum-like shows gliding through the past year.
Is it worth watching? A BIG YES!!! I'd recommend this show, especially for those who like action and thriller genre (this will increase your adrenaline rush, for sure). Time to end my review right now. Good bye and good luck in watching!!!
The story tells us about Yoon Ga-min, an ordinary boy who wants to study so badly, but is only good in fighting. Despite facing numerous setbacks, Ga-min is very determined to set up a study group of his own and recruit students who have passions for studying (so that he can take inspiration from them). The chaotic band also includes the intelligent and cool-headed Kim Se-hyun, the adorable Choi Hee-won, the badass judo practitioner Lee Ji-woo, the tenacious Lee Jun, and of course Ga-min's homeroom teacher, Lee Han-kyung.
However, their journey is far from smooth as they have to confront numerous obstacles from opposing students and teachers, especially the respected son of the YB Group (a mafia organization, to be precise) Phi Han-wool, who is determined to make them as miserable as he can.
'Study Group' can be categorized as a very refreshing K-drama where the script is fleshed out in a quirky kind of way, instead of taking the usual route of a common K-drama. The dialogue between the characters is neither bland nor cheesy too, which makes watcher easier to relate with them. Academic stuffs and brawls aside, 'Study Group' also tackles the mundane social issues such as poverty (Kim Sun-cheol and his grandpa's arc is quite a heartbreaking one), the loss of a loved one (the scene where Ga-min's mother supports Ms. Lee after Ms. Jeong-hwa's funeral (Ms. Lee's teacher)), abusive parents (Se-hyun's jaded relationship with his father), and etc.
As a webtoon reader, I'd delved into its webtoon version before and surprisingly, the twists and turns are done right, by ending every episode in a cliffhanger so that the watchers becomes more addictive through the following weeks. Given it only has 10 episodes, I'm sure there's going to be another season of 'Study Group' as the stack gets higher for Ga-min and his comrades (for reference, check out the season 2 and 3 of the webtoon version).
The acting is wonderfully phenomenal especially Hwang Min-hyun's. I never imagine that he can pull off Ga-min's character seasmlessly, given his so-so performance in 'My Lovely Liar' (which I dropped after ep 4). I must also appreciate Min-hyun's mastery of martial arts in this series, because from what I see in the webtoon, Ga-min's uncle's forbidden tricks are very tricky to be performed. The rest of the casts do well too, though it'll be quite difficult for me to add every single name lol.
OSTs are average (I still prefer my super wild playlist of K-pop songs), while the cinematography, costumes, fighting scenes, and background settings give us a breath of refreshing air after a bunch of humdrum-like shows gliding through the past year.
Is it worth watching? A BIG YES!!! I'd recommend this show, especially for those who like action and thriller genre (this will increase your adrenaline rush, for sure). Time to end my review right now. Good bye and good luck in watching!!!
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