Episode 5: Does this kid just not know there are hundreds of other students in his school who are not in any way involved with gangs, violence, etc.? Students who just go to class, study, take part in clubs, activities, and have normal friends? Apparently, not. If he is drawn to gang members/violent people, which he is, then I'd like the plot to address that self-destructive streak.
Sometimes, while watching this, I feel I want to let myself get pulled in, but right about then another cliche characterization/behavior/plot point gets thrown in my face and I'm right back where I was, watching from outside the story, frustrated with the lazy writing/direction/plot/acting.
Yakuza cosplay behaviors from every gang member. Cliche mom who, even when she wants something good for the kid, makes it all about HER. Cliche sending kid off to "study abroad." Cliche kid in a coma with no medical personnel in sight. Ever. It's as though they WANT someone to sneak in and pull the plug on him. Cliche clown white makeup on Korean actors. Cliche drunk, abusive dad. Cliche just-in-time event that prevents a fist/pipe/baseball bat/whatever from landing in an MC's face. Cliche nonexistent, clueless teachers. Cliche band-aids on cheekbones. Cliche cuts in bottom-left corner of lips. Cliche stupid cops. Cliche...well, you get the point.
Fight choreography is awesome and well-performed. Music is great. Cinematography is excellent. The above are beautiful wrappings, but the present inside, the story, is weak.
If Baku doesn't stop YELLING! to show us how jocular and fun he is trying to be, I may kill him. Baek Jin has the kind of male beauty that fascinates me. At first sight, I found his features off-putting, but the more I see him, the more handsome he becomes. The profile pic of the actor, laughing, is stunning. He would make a great vampire.
Yes I hated the overly dramatic action they put in this. It felt like 'study group' ( the drama), but that was…
Agree. This super-hero stuff wherein some dudes are inexplicably indestructible is just weak. The best fight films I've seen often feature an MC who regularly gets the living shit beat out of him, but somehow plausibly survives and triumphs. WHC1 had that quality, but here, it's become the same old silliness. The rooftop fight at end of 4 in this one included a hilariously impossible number of body/head/gut blows that would kill most people.
That this feels like countless other disappointing sequels to good movies or dramas is more surprising than usual because they are written and directed by the same guy. Often, the followup film is written/directed by different people, which explains a lot of fall-off. We don't have that explanation here.
Maybe he just took the Netflix money, whipped out a script, filmed it in 2 months, and called it good enough.
For me, two eps at a time is enough. Anymore than that, and the lack of originality becomes too overwhelming to ignore, which causes me to start rolling my eyes and snorting derisively. :)
Weak Hero: Class 1's psychological and emotional depth is almost completely missing here. Which means after about one and a half episode's worth of screen time, I begin to notice this is just another HS gang violence flick/drama like 100 others before it, and I start to zone out. WHC2 is fight/set-up-to-fight/fight/set-up-to-fight/fight-repeat/etc. Lame.
Also, after an episode and a half, I begin to keep track of how many absurdly violent blows have landed that would put in a coma or kill a normal human, or even Batman, or maybe Superman too. But here, the high school boys keep getting back up for more.
All the Yakuza cosplay smirking, posturing, attitude stuff is eye-rollingly cliche too.
how the hell do I find you under every controversial thing on MDL. I wanna meet you in real life lol
I'm an artist and writer. I work for myself and set my own schedule, so I'm free to poke around the Internet as I wish.
MDL is the only site other than Facebook, that I visit regularly. I don't spend my days on social media or trash celebrity news sites, as many here do. Nobody questions them about why they're on IG all the time. Wonder why that is? :D
It is silly to pretend that leaving comments regularly here means you spend all day here. Imagine: I log in and see three reply notifications. I reply with "hello" or "f**k off" or "bite me" (paraphrasing). I sign off. How long does that take? Ten minutes?
I often get on the site in the evenings to seek out a film or drama on my watchlist. After watching, I often leave a comment and engage other commenters on the show's page. I don't see this as bizarre behavior.
The only people who tell me to "touch grass" or "get a job" or "get a life" are those who disagree with me or hate me for existing or a combination of both. :)
damn, this comment section. I would continue with caution if youre sensitive to transphobic talking points. there…
Most likely an American Trumper. If so, I apologize on its behalf. Trump is a scum-sucking monster and I did everything I could to prevent his election; the outcome for which the entire world is now paying the price.
Um…Anyways trans women are women and trans men are men. The trans community is valid no matter the transphobic…
What the hell is a Trumper doing on MDL? It is true, though, that willful ignorance and bigotry can spread its tendrils just about anywhere, like a fungus.
how the hell do I find you under every controversial thing on MDL. I wanna meet you in real life lol
lol You just made me laugh. I might scare you in person, though. :)
Your observation is so true, to an extent. I'm sure there are lots of MDL controversies on show pages of which I have no idea and am not interested in. However, if it's a page or topic that brings out the MDL Neo-Puritans, MDL Little Girls, Knetz Killer Klowns, SJWs, or PC speech police, you're likely to find me somewhere in the brawl.
In a story like this you just have to turn your brain off. Half of these people would be in prison if this was…
All of this. Exactly. Again pushing "Night Flight," ALL of the violence takes place outside or off school property completely...until that climactic, extended scene the story builds toward near the end.
There is milder violence/psychological bullying in a school restroom and in the classroom earlier, and it is there we see a lot of the growing tension and after effects of off-property violence, but there is none of this 20-minute-long-fight-that-tears-the-classroom-apart-but-not-one-school-employee-notices type stuff going on.
When that final scene takes place, there is plenty of explosive violence, some of the best-choreographed/realistic work I've seen, but it happens so fast no one could have stopped it, and the teachers who try to step in get pounded too.
I appreciate this conversation. Night Flight is my #1 favorite gay-themed film, and I've watched it at least four times. But until now I hadn't fully grasped that nearly ALL the blatant bullying takes place off-property, before or after school hours, and how important that is to the film's sense of plausibility. But it is just that.
Now I have an excuse to watch NF a fifth time sometime soon. :)
Typical. Your "comment" presumes his guilt and that his career now has no future. This is why so many Asian celebs kill themselves out of despair. No matter what they do or prove in court, people like you will jump to conclusions and pronounce them cancelled.
In a story like this you just have to turn your brain off. Half of these people would be in prison if this was…
Yeah, I would enjoy these bullying plots a great deal more (and there are some good ones) if the writers would work harder. This thing with just throwing up their hands and saying "well, we can't figure out a way to tell a bullying plot that includes actual teachers, parents, and administrators because we're too lazy, so let's just not gaf and invent a universe in which they just aren't ever around but for no discernible reason. We'll hire a great fight coordinator and triple the violence instead!" :)
Have you seen the epic fight scene near the end of the Korean film, "Night Flight?" A former bully-turned-decent guy goes ballistic on a few dudes for good reason. It takes place in classrooms and a hallway and teachers are present, but the ones who try to step in get the shit knocked out of them too because they've been looking the other way and letting the bullying go on the entire movie. Everything about that scene is incredibly real. Great flick.
I'm not naming names. Doing so would bring down a torrent of hysterical abuse from fangurls denying it. Besides, my statement is based only on my own observations, not something I read on Dispatch or Koreaboo.
You're free to like and watch as you wish, of course, but this attitude is why Korean BL is dying: lack of standards.…
Where to start? Encouraging you to enjoy your show in no way conflicts with saying your choice to enjoy this one indicates low standards. The show can be of low quality and you can enjoy it. Both things can be true. The problem here is not my "superiority" complex, but your inferiority complex. Just enjoy your show and forget some rando on MDL said anything about it.
lol Yeah, I just read your second paragraph. You definitely should think about working on that inferiority thing. Gosh, like, I had NO idea people can have different standards and enjoy different shows for different reasons. Like, that is a revelation to me. You are a genius.
In reality what you think you just pronounced as a profound observation was pretty much my point made above: You can enjoy your low-standards shows and I can enjoy my high-standards shows. It's a win-win! I don't see the problem here.
"Sorry if my joy doesn't fit your precious criteria." lol This wild over-reaction is revealing. I don't care about your joy. Just go feel it and consider stopping feeling that you must defend your tastes to Internet randos. Touchy.
Weird with telling me to check your profile to prove your tastes in shows are...something. I don't care about your tastes, other than to the extent they encourage the production of more and more low-quality BLs.
In a story like this you just have to turn your brain off. Half of these people would be in prison if this was…
This aspect didn't seem quite as blatantly ignored in WHC1. I don't care for brainless watches, and I watched that one twice. But maybe I misremember it. Yeah, I'm only two and a half episodes into this one, and I needed a break. It's evolving into just another Asian gang fight thing like the 500 before it.
The "Baku" character is about as much a cardboard cut-out/cliche, school gang leader (good guy version) as you're ever going to see. The actor is over-playing, and not in a good way. Same goes for the leader of the loser, phone-stealing gang. He is a caricature. I don't recall this being a major problem in season 1. But as I said, perhaps I misremember.
Which reminds me of another blatant stupidity here: Three-quarters of the school's students have had their phones stolen, and not one parent has raised a fuss with the administration, and the school has done nothing to stop it. Plus, the school has dedicated a room for the phone-stealers to meet in and hide the stolen goods. Right...
WHC1 was much more emotional and cerebral. This one is feeling much more Hong Kong Kung Fu Fighting-ish.
So far, meh. This lacks the soul of the original. To this point, it feels like your basic high school gang/bully flick, focused much more on style than substance.
I always hate to see another Korean actor who was naturally handsome but somehow found it necessary to undergo a nose job. The end result is identical to a thousand other noses in K-entertainment.
Episode 1: I'll keep asking this question until I get a plausible answer. If you can help, please do: Where are the freaking teachers, administrators, custodians, or any adult authority figures at all? Do these positions not exist in Korean schools? Are ALL of them intimidated into avoidance and silence toward the bullies? Do NONE of the bullied kids tell their parents, who then come to the school and raise holy Hell?
I love a good HS bullying story, but this is the question I always run up against. The lack of an answer takes a lot of oomph out of the story, because it is no longer believable. Surely some creative writing team could solve this problem for me, but apparently, not.
1 
1 
Does this kid just not know there are hundreds of other students in his school who are not in any way involved with gangs, violence, etc.? Students who just go to class, study, take part in clubs, activities, and have normal friends? Apparently, not. If he is drawn to gang members/violent people, which he is, then I'd like the plot to address that self-destructive streak.
Sometimes, while watching this, I feel I want to let myself get pulled in, but right about then another cliche characterization/behavior/plot point gets thrown in my face and I'm right back where I was, watching from outside the story, frustrated with the lazy writing/direction/plot/acting.
Yakuza cosplay behaviors from every gang member.
Cliche mom who, even when she wants something good for the kid, makes it all about HER.
Cliche sending kid off to "study abroad."
Cliche kid in a coma with no medical personnel in sight. Ever. It's as though they WANT someone to sneak in and pull the plug on him.
Cliche clown white makeup on Korean actors.
Cliche drunk, abusive dad.
Cliche just-in-time event that prevents a fist/pipe/baseball bat/whatever from landing in an MC's face.
Cliche nonexistent, clueless teachers.
Cliche band-aids on cheekbones.
Cliche cuts in bottom-left corner of lips.
Cliche stupid cops.
Cliche...well, you get the point.
Fight choreography is awesome and well-performed.
Music is great.
Cinematography is excellent.
The above are beautiful wrappings, but the present inside, the story, is weak.
If Baku doesn't stop YELLING! to show us how jocular and fun he is trying to be, I may kill him.
Baek Jin has the kind of male beauty that fascinates me. At first sight, I found his features off-putting, but the more I see him, the more handsome he becomes. The profile pic of the actor, laughing, is stunning. He would make a great vampire.
OK, on to episode 6.
That this feels like countless other disappointing sequels to good movies or dramas is more surprising than usual because they are written and directed by the same guy. Often, the followup film is written/directed by different people, which explains a lot of fall-off. We don't have that explanation here.
Maybe he just took the Netflix money, whipped out a script, filmed it in 2 months, and called it good enough.
For me, two eps at a time is enough. Anymore than that, and the lack of originality becomes too overwhelming to ignore, which causes me to start rolling my eyes and snorting derisively. :)
Weak Hero: Class 1's psychological and emotional depth is almost completely missing here. Which means after about one and a half episode's worth of screen time, I begin to notice this is just another HS gang violence flick/drama like 100 others before it, and I start to zone out. WHC2 is fight/set-up-to-fight/fight/set-up-to-fight/fight-repeat/etc. Lame.
Also, after an episode and a half, I begin to keep track of how many absurdly violent blows have landed that would put in a coma or kill a normal human, or even Batman, or maybe Superman too. But here, the high school boys keep getting back up for more.
All the Yakuza cosplay smirking, posturing, attitude stuff is eye-rollingly cliche too.
MDL is the only site other than Facebook, that I visit regularly. I don't spend my days on social media or trash celebrity news sites, as many here do. Nobody questions them about why they're on IG all the time. Wonder why that is? :D
It is silly to pretend that leaving comments regularly here means you spend all day here. Imagine: I log in and see three reply notifications. I reply with "hello" or "f**k off" or "bite me" (paraphrasing). I sign off. How long does that take? Ten minutes?
I often get on the site in the evenings to seek out a film or drama on my watchlist. After watching, I often leave a comment and engage other commenters on the show's page. I don't see this as bizarre behavior.
The only people who tell me to "touch grass" or "get a job" or "get a life" are those who disagree with me or hate me for existing or a combination of both. :)
If so, I apologize on its behalf. Trump is a scum-sucking monster and I did everything I could to prevent his election; the outcome for which the entire world is now paying the price.
It is true, though, that willful ignorance and bigotry can spread its tendrils just about anywhere, like a fungus.
Your observation is so true, to an extent.
I'm sure there are lots of MDL controversies on show pages of which I have no idea and am not interested in. However, if it's a page or topic that brings out the MDL Neo-Puritans, MDL Little Girls, Knetz Killer Klowns, SJWs, or PC speech police, you're likely to find me somewhere in the brawl.
Again pushing "Night Flight," ALL of the violence takes place outside or off school property completely...until that climactic, extended scene the story builds toward near the end.
There is milder violence/psychological bullying in a school restroom and in the classroom earlier, and it is there we see a lot of the growing tension and after effects of off-property violence, but there is none of this 20-minute-long-fight-that-tears-the-classroom-apart-but-not-one-school-employee-notices type stuff going on.
When that final scene takes place, there is plenty of explosive violence, some of the best-choreographed/realistic work I've seen, but it happens so fast no one could have stopped it, and the teachers who try to step in get pounded too.
I appreciate this conversation. Night Flight is my #1 favorite gay-themed film, and I've watched it at least four times. But until now I hadn't fully grasped that nearly ALL the blatant bullying takes place off-property, before or after school hours, and how important that is to the film's sense of plausibility. But it is just that.
Now I have an excuse to watch NF a fifth time sometime soon. :)
Your "comment" presumes his guilt and that his career now has no future. This is why so many Asian celebs kill themselves out of despair. No matter what they do or prove in court, people like you will jump to conclusions and pronounce them cancelled.
Quit playing dumb.
Your summary is more than a bit misleading but whatever. Go enjoy your show. Again.
Me: Go enjoy your show.
You: I can't enjoy my show because I know a rando on the Internet thinks my show is low-quality.
Qualified therapists are standing by to help you with that inferiority complex.
Have you seen the epic fight scene near the end of the Korean film, "Night Flight?" A former bully-turned-decent guy goes ballistic on a few dudes for good reason. It takes place in classrooms and a hallway and teachers are present, but the ones who try to step in get the shit knocked out of them too because they've been looking the other way and letting the bullying go on the entire movie. Everything about that scene is incredibly real. Great flick.
Besides, my statement is based only on my own observations, not something I read on Dispatch or Koreaboo.
Encouraging you to enjoy your show in no way conflicts with saying your choice to enjoy this one indicates low standards. The show can be of low quality and you can enjoy it. Both things can be true. The problem here is not my "superiority" complex, but your inferiority complex. Just enjoy your show and forget some rando on MDL said anything about it.
lol Yeah, I just read your second paragraph. You definitely should think about working on that inferiority thing. Gosh, like, I had NO idea people can have different standards and enjoy different shows for different reasons. Like, that is a revelation to me. You are a genius.
In reality what you think you just pronounced as a profound observation was pretty much my point made above: You can enjoy your low-standards shows and I can enjoy my high-standards shows. It's a win-win! I don't see the problem here.
"Sorry if my joy doesn't fit your precious criteria." lol This wild over-reaction is revealing. I don't care about your joy. Just go feel it and consider stopping feeling that you must defend your tastes to Internet randos. Touchy.
Weird with telling me to check your profile to prove your tastes in shows are...something. I don't care about your tastes, other than to the extent they encourage the production of more and more low-quality BLs.
Was that "judgy?"
Yeah, I'm only two and a half episodes into this one, and I needed a break. It's evolving into just another Asian gang fight thing like the 500 before it.
The "Baku" character is about as much a cardboard cut-out/cliche, school gang leader (good guy version) as you're ever going to see. The actor is over-playing, and not in a good way. Same goes for the leader of the loser, phone-stealing gang. He is a caricature. I don't recall this being a major problem in season 1. But as I said, perhaps I misremember.
Which reminds me of another blatant stupidity here: Three-quarters of the school's students have had their phones stolen, and not one parent has raised a fuss with the administration, and the school has done nothing to stop it. Plus, the school has dedicated a room for the phone-stealers to meet in and hide the stolen goods. Right...
WHC1 was much more emotional and cerebral. This one is feeling much more Hong Kong Kung Fu Fighting-ish.
Time for a break ten minutes in...cardboard/cliche character alert.
I assume I will finish the series but am in no rush to do so.
So far, meh. This lacks the soul of the original.
To this point, it feels like your basic high school gang/bully flick, focused much more on style than substance.
I always hate to see another Korean actor who was naturally handsome but somehow found it necessary to undergo a nose job. The end result is identical to a thousand other noses in K-entertainment.
I'll keep asking this question until I get a plausible answer. If you can help, please do:
Where are the freaking teachers, administrators, custodians, or any adult authority figures at all? Do these positions not exist in Korean schools?
Are ALL of them intimidated into avoidance and silence toward the bullies?
Do NONE of the bullied kids tell their parents, who then come to the school and raise holy Hell?
I love a good HS bullying story, but this is the question I always run up against. The lack of an answer takes a lot of oomph out of the story, because it is no longer believable. Surely some creative writing team could solve this problem for me, but apparently, not.