6
If only...
The characters were its biggest downfall. All the characters were insane, demented, deranged and devoid of integrity. There was no layers to their madness. You'll have to humanize them first before stripping it away. Skipping the first step would devalue their actions and take away from the watching experience. Aside from the characters, the drama was excruciatingly slow for no apparent reason other than filling the contracted runtime. Slow burners are acceptable when they serve a purpose to either immerse the viewers into its world or to seamlessly build up the tension. The drama failed to do either. The twists were overdone for the sake of it rather than adding to the narrative meaningfully. Even then, they weren't appealing nor interesting. Once the memory was restored the drama took a sharp and sudden turn for the worst going against what it tried to build up to, this includes the ending. One more thing, there was an attempt to have a play on artistic symbolism but none of which landed well. Partially because of the two aforementioned points.Was this review helpful to you?
Decent
The earlier parts were dreadful to get through, they did an awful job trying to hook the viewers but it got a lot better later on. Around episode 5-6 it started getting interesting and enjoyable. However, that didn't last for too long as there was a big downtime and disconnect in the story after episode 12. Meanwhile the ending was good enough but I hoped for something better. On the other hand, the drama had a decent selection of cast but I wish we got to see more of the support cast like Park Won Sang instead of filling it with redundant scenes. The drama was promising and good enough but it left a lot to be desired.Was this review helpful to you?
Disappointing
The drama biggest problem is its both male leads. Both were incompatible, had zero chemistry and looked way older than their real age and compared to female lead. Regardless of anything else, the drama failed to nail the most basic elements of any romance. The romance itself was poor, awkward, emotionless and dull. Again, the lack of chemistry/connection isn't helping either. More or less, the comedy/entertainment value was equally problematic. This drama was a disastrous romcom from the very beginning and there was no saving it. Almost any other Choi Ji Woo drama from that era was better than this one.Was this review helpful to you?
.
The scuffed production from the beginning wasn't a good sign for what's to come but I was willing to give it a chance. However, it quickly became apparent that this level of writing was clumsy at best. The writer pulled a poor attempt trying to create a mature drama about complicated adult relationships but all these relationships came off as amateurish and bland. The sever lack of chemistry between the characters didn't help either.Was this review helpful to you?
There are better melos out there...
Cheap melodrama, its narrative shortcomings are somewhat forgivable due to the inept writer's apparent limitations in using other means to occupy its duration. However, the same can't be said for its conclusion, which regrettably left the viewers with a palpable sense of disappointment. The only thing you'll be getting is a stinging sour aftertaste.Was this review helpful to you?
.
Kim Jung Hyun plays a character with limited time who also had to drop out of the drama earlier than planned for health reasons which leaves this weird gap in the last 1/4 without the lead actor. This also led to a problematic ending and send-off of the character which was suppose to be the climax of series! Almost unwatchable after that. There were a lot of other problems but this one seems to be the most prominent one.Was this review helpful to you?
Man!
It had an interesting concept and I liked the first chunk of episodes but that was such a poor storytelling. It irks me to no end how this was utterly wasted after a good start. Also, it doesn't make effort in building the world nor in setting up concrete rules. Logic is completely neglected and everything is made up along the way. The later parts were just not good.Was this review helpful to you?
.
The premise of this "top" team is absurd and to make this story a functional and coherent one with such a premise would be a monumental task which this drama obviously failed to achieve and ended up being trashy. There's a lot of mystery going on but this one was the bad kind of mystery, not really a proper mystery anyway. Everyone slipping all the time, the culprits were kinda obvious, and the revelations were lame. Everything was over explained as if the viewers were toddlers. The flashiness and pazaz can be easily classified as cringe. Speaking of which, Lee Jang Woo throughout his entire acting career seems to be a very reliable cringe magnet, so no surprise here.Was this review helpful to you?
Poor!
When it comes to teenage/school dramas, bullying/hierarchy/classes and school pressure aren't doing it for me unless they take an interesting angle of which this drama failed to do. It fell into the endless pit of vexing mediocrity. On another note, sloppy writing that is sincerely flawed and only focuses on the shininess of teenage fluff and antics, further demoting its poor efforts in creating a story. On an unrelated note, I wonder when Kim Hyang Gi would graduate from playing student roles, it's getting stale. Also, it's a waste for the adult cast to be involved in such drama.Was this review helpful to you?
.
An interesting mini series with a wide range of stories each one is unique with a small twist. Some of them were good enough that they can be turned into a full featured movie. Each one had a different theme and feeling, some took the comedic creative route while some took more of a serious one. Some of them had the vintage feel of early 2000s Korean horror movies. Overall, it's interesting watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Good
A nice little drama. Everyone is a lead in their own story, at the same time they become support characters for other stories. I kinda liked how the stories were independent instead of parallel while having different directors/writers at the same time. There's an overall melancholy theme going on especially with the last story. It's a little different from usual drama but it's a decent watch. Also, young Bae Doo Na is amazing as always.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Very bad!
The usual nipple twister makjang except this one take a wonky unfavorable route because it thinks itself special. At least other daily melo can deliver "something". Even if we disregarded the ending, the drama was infested with retardation throughout its run. I detest this piece of garbage with passion. The one thing I hated the most is whenever Moo Yool & Yoo Jung looked at each other or muttered a single word, Soo Hyuk would instantly spawn out of thin air and screech like a pig. This is definitely Choi Yoon Young's & Sung Hoon's worst drama they starred in.The creepy obsessed Soo Hyuk ended up with Yoo Jung. It would have been infinitely better if she ended up alone or if she died or anything!! Soo Hyuk's father killed both Yoo Jung's sister and father, then his mother tried to kill Yoo Jung's mother too! Still, they ended up together and had a kid. On the other hand, initially, Moo Yool's predicament with Yoo Jung seems very simple. He used to date Yoo Jung's sister when they were teens +10 years ago before she died.
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Failed delivery
Jung Hee the dullest character in the drama, would be better to remove her. The story was too shallow to function and the younger cast ain't helping either. I wanted to see more of the older cast and less of the younger cast. It also had too many plot holes to ignore.Was this review helpful to you?
If only it didn't have the 2nd son "Dae Pung"
My biggest problem with this drama was Dae Pung. I've never seen a more obnoxious, childish, repulsive and sleazy character like him. I can't stress enough how annoyed I was watching the drama because of him. He's the type of the character that's always loud no matter what, I wish I could turn down the volume just for his character, I actually had to watch the drama at slightly lower volume than usual because of him. He gave me physical pain. He didn't deserve to have a love interest. I hated him and his story.Anyway, the other stories were fine. Mi Pung's story get brought up for a scene every few episodes, you'll always keep forgetting about him. Sun Pung's story had some attention at the beginning then became similar to Mi Pung's case. Jin Poong's story was the only one that was constantly present and had some development. The drama was lacking to create a good family dynamic, the individual stories were the main focus and the family felt like it was their to react not to interact. I gotta say, the old geezers in the drama were likeable.
On another note, watching kids bully each other because one's mother is dead was more of a comedy rather than being sad. At this point, this trope should end because it's cringe.
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It's alright...
I couldn't stomach most of Dong Yup scenes. They gave him too much attention and screen-time. Would prefer more focus on other characters. The drama itself was decent with a handful of funny scenes but unfortunately not memorable.Was this review helpful to you?
