This review may contain spoilers
Good but could have been better
Hierarchy now I don't know why so many people have rated this so low. Is it extraordinary? No, I don’t think so. Is it terrible? No, I don’t think so either. I think this drama was good, could have been better, and I think you really need to watch this to give a verdict.
In terms of storyline, it’s not new. A rich school, scholarship poor kids being bullied and the whole school being controlled by rich families and with controversies and all, it's such a repeated topic. However, I would say aesthetically I really liked this. The classes felt more luxurious and much more high-end compared to some other schools, and it really shows the difference between the elite and normal students from the color of the ties to the special classes.
The buildings gave me major Harry Potter vibes and a bit of a hotel feel. It looked like a prestigious school no normal person could go into. So the idea of the elite was well presented.
Spoilers***
In terms of the characters, Jae Yi and Ri An are actually nice, and they have heart-breaking stories. You can see their love is very strong. Hera and Woo Jin are also complicated kids, but the four together are not terrible; they are not directly doing things, but they are involved as bystanders or solicitors.
Character of Ri An I did like the actor and his acting. I think he was good, and he was consistent throughout, and I enjoyed what he did.
As Jae Yi, well, I recently saw this actress in Our Universe, and honestly, I rated her acting 0/10 in that drama, so when she first appeared on the screen, I was worried. But I must say she did unexpectedly really good playing the part of a cold, emotionless character, and even the emotional parts or scenes with Ri An were sweet and lovely, so I feel puzzled by her work in other dramas. Maybe this cold, emotionless action might be her thing.
Now for the actress who played Hera, I really enjoyed her. I think she will make a great villain in future dramas, and I think she brought a lot of interest and spice to the story.
Kang Ha, I like his acting and all, but he did feel confusing. He went there to take revenge on his brother, but then he was hesitant because of Jae Yi, and I felt like there was no tension between them and it was mostly him. It felt like his character lacked a bit of consistency from the beginning to the end.
The main character who was behind the anonymous messages, his character was puzzling. We didn’t get any backstory: why he started, what was the reason, and what they showed was not strong enough, and also his tie to Kang Ha’s brother felt weak. I felt like his character did not get enough backstory although he was the mastermind behind it all and felt like it was thrown there and lacked really a lot of backstory.
Overall, I feel like most parts of the story were cut, like scenes were missing, and left to the imagination, and it’s really annoying, especially when they cut off important scenes. This is why I do not like Netflix-backed K-dramas; they really ruin it. An episode is 1 hour 17 minutes long, but 25 minutes is about the credits.
Overall, I would say the drama is good, but it has a good setting and interesting characters. All the elements are present, but the storytelling lacked a lot, and there were inconsistencies. I don’t know if they actually filmed scenes and cut them to adapt for Netflix style, but I really felt like a lot was missing in between, which made the overall experience lacking.
It's good, but there are things that could have made this into a 10. There are interesting elements, and the feeling of the rich elite was nicely done but lacked cohesion and connection between scenes. A lot of characters were left, like what happened to Jae Yi’s brother? Did Kang Ha graduate as the top student? What would happen between Woo Jin and Hera? Will Ri An and Jae Yi meet? What happened to the students once the hearing happened? Did they get punished?
I enjoyed this, but it lacked a lot, but it’s not as terrible as many say. I would definitely rate this a - 8 for sure.
In terms of storyline, it’s not new. A rich school, scholarship poor kids being bullied and the whole school being controlled by rich families and with controversies and all, it's such a repeated topic. However, I would say aesthetically I really liked this. The classes felt more luxurious and much more high-end compared to some other schools, and it really shows the difference between the elite and normal students from the color of the ties to the special classes.
The buildings gave me major Harry Potter vibes and a bit of a hotel feel. It looked like a prestigious school no normal person could go into. So the idea of the elite was well presented.
Spoilers***
In terms of the characters, Jae Yi and Ri An are actually nice, and they have heart-breaking stories. You can see their love is very strong. Hera and Woo Jin are also complicated kids, but the four together are not terrible; they are not directly doing things, but they are involved as bystanders or solicitors.
Character of Ri An I did like the actor and his acting. I think he was good, and he was consistent throughout, and I enjoyed what he did.
As Jae Yi, well, I recently saw this actress in Our Universe, and honestly, I rated her acting 0/10 in that drama, so when she first appeared on the screen, I was worried. But I must say she did unexpectedly really good playing the part of a cold, emotionless character, and even the emotional parts or scenes with Ri An were sweet and lovely, so I feel puzzled by her work in other dramas. Maybe this cold, emotionless action might be her thing.
Now for the actress who played Hera, I really enjoyed her. I think she will make a great villain in future dramas, and I think she brought a lot of interest and spice to the story.
Kang Ha, I like his acting and all, but he did feel confusing. He went there to take revenge on his brother, but then he was hesitant because of Jae Yi, and I felt like there was no tension between them and it was mostly him. It felt like his character lacked a bit of consistency from the beginning to the end.
The main character who was behind the anonymous messages, his character was puzzling. We didn’t get any backstory: why he started, what was the reason, and what they showed was not strong enough, and also his tie to Kang Ha’s brother felt weak. I felt like his character did not get enough backstory although he was the mastermind behind it all and felt like it was thrown there and lacked really a lot of backstory.
Overall, I feel like most parts of the story were cut, like scenes were missing, and left to the imagination, and it’s really annoying, especially when they cut off important scenes. This is why I do not like Netflix-backed K-dramas; they really ruin it. An episode is 1 hour 17 minutes long, but 25 minutes is about the credits.
Overall, I would say the drama is good, but it has a good setting and interesting characters. All the elements are present, but the storytelling lacked a lot, and there were inconsistencies. I don’t know if they actually filmed scenes and cut them to adapt for Netflix style, but I really felt like a lot was missing in between, which made the overall experience lacking.
It's good, but there are things that could have made this into a 10. There are interesting elements, and the feeling of the rich elite was nicely done but lacked cohesion and connection between scenes. A lot of characters were left, like what happened to Jae Yi’s brother? Did Kang Ha graduate as the top student? What would happen between Woo Jin and Hera? Will Ri An and Jae Yi meet? What happened to the students once the hearing happened? Did they get punished?
I enjoyed this, but it lacked a lot, but it’s not as terrible as many say. I would definitely rate this a - 8 for sure.
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