Solomon's Perjury (2016)

What happens when High-Schoolers play Prosecutor and defense?

Firstly, I would like to commend myself for completing this one Hell of a show. It actually feels as if it was written by a high school kid. I understand kids being sad at the loss of their classmate. But why would they play prosecutor-defense. Just why?
I think studying too much got into their brain. They probably would have never ever talked to So Woo all these years and now when he has died they show sympathy for him and are even risking their careers just to find out why he died. They start playing prosecutor-defense and brings in the school's bully as a defendant when the police have twice concluded that it was a suicide. They believe on a stupid letter written by a mad girl( I know she was bullied and all. But man I also hated her character. All she did was played victim ,cried and yelled). And what is funny is that the kids start finding evidence which were overlooked by the police. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Throughout the show I didn't understood just why was So Hoo so depressed that he committed suicide. The world is unfair. We all know that. If you are born with a silver spoon. You start at a different point than the one who is dirt poor. But I think he lives in a world of fantasy. Just because his high school was giving special privileges to some VIP students. He committed suicide. I get it that he was depressed before also. But I just couldn't justify why he was like that. If he was being a shut-in who didn't talked to anyone then it is not like the world would come and talk to him. O don't know at what point it started to feel all gibberish to me.

Also what is wrong with Kim Hyun Soo's acting in this drama. Her expression looks like that of a dead fish for the most part of the drama. She improved her acting quite a lot in The Penthouse. For the most part of the drama Han Ji Hoon's character was the only driving force that kept me going. But at the end of the drama even though I pitied his character. He too started to get on my nerves. So I am finishing this drama with probably nothing to like. If you have finished all the thriller/crime/mystery dramas and have time to waste then you may watch this drama. Even though I wouldn't suggest it though.

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Very insightful drama, it really exposed the faults of the micro-society that the school environment established. They did not romanticise mental illness, rather gave insight into how it is truthfully like in real life. I become so attached to these characters! I was bitterly upset about Soo-woo, he is the one who commits suicide and the more you learn about him, the more you wish he stayed alive. The actors/actresses played their roles so well, their characters were completely believable. Sometimes there were irrelevant moments and filler moments. I watched this mostly whilst I was eating. The episodes did not necessarily need to be an hour long but I guess the Korean audience wouldn't mind.

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I rarely or never try watching a drama without atleast one actor/actress which interests me. But the title seems interesting so I planned on watching few minutes then drop it if I get bored. But I ended up watching 3episodes - and rest of the episode the next day. The plot alone makes you want to watch it til the end in no time.

One thing I’ve learned watching this is - “having atleast ONE PERSON to believe you and share genuine relationship can make a HUGE impact in one’s life. It reminds me to be kind and inspires me to reveal the good in people which sometimes they fail to realize themselves.

It reminds me also of how important friendship made in highschool is- how we depend on each other and how the fun in school makes life less difficult.

Shout out to these young actors convincing acting- you can see how they value true talent in Korea TV industry. (Which is far from how the actors their age in my country act - hehe)

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A Clever Title for a Clever Story That Asks Hard Questions but Never Loses Heart

Good Things:

• The genre blend. Part murder mystery and part school slice of life with a legal 'trial' as the bridge, and it pulls off the balancing act with only minor hitches.
• The layered relationships. Bullying/abuse takes many forms - the overtly physical, the slyly social and the manipulatively emotional - and they all play out between different characters.
• The lack of PPL. Least amount of annoying PPL outside of a sageuk.
• The social critique. The bullying/abuse starts with the students, but through the interactions of the administration, teachers and parents it also shows how the same dynamics are ingrained in adult lives as well; with the implication that the behavior is ignored/tolerated in children because it's omnipresent.
• The sympathy for the devil. There's a trend in Kdrama to prefer grossly deterministic villains; ie, a person treated badly becomes a bad person. The characters here are more realistically nuanced, and a few have satisfying redemptive arcs.

Bad Things:

• The cheese. Since it's a teen drama for teens, there's some overly wholesome asides that feel a little hamfisted. Ditto for some over-dramatized drama.
• The cinematography. The downside of almost no PPL; it's a plain and simple small budget drama.
• The instrumental OST. It's too punchy and dramatic at times, which takes away from the overall more thoughtful tone.

Takeaway:

It's not your typical high school Kdrama, but it has most of the recognizable tropes of one with a more mature subject matter and a unique format/progression thanks to the structure of the legal trial. Recommended if you enjoy dramas that interrogate bullying as a societal ill vs focusing on punishment/revenge, like cheesy high-school slice-of-life with a bit more weight and prefer difficult topics treated with compassion and idealism.

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Can't believe it took me this long...

Honestly, I'd been wanting to watch this show since around early 2017 but I always put it off for some reason. I actually remember starting it years ago but only watching the first 10 minutes of episode one. So yesterday I decided to fully pay attention to it and start from the beginning. I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the idea of the students holding atrial to solve the mystery. Usually I'm disappointed with the endings of a lot of shows but it wasn't the case for this one. I actually liked the outcome. Ofc it's sad about what actually happened and it definitely wasn't what I thought actually happened but it worked. I believe th story was well written and everyone did an amazing job at their roles.

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Worth every minute

wow. I didn't know what to expect from this drama, I was afraid it would be too dark and heavy or boring. I am happy to say this was one of the best dramas I have watched.
It is a high school/crime drama and it is the perfect mix. For starters the story and plot is well developed, there wasn't any plot holes or confusing narratives everything fitted well together.
I liked how fast paced it was from the beginning, it wasn't too fast that It felt rushed it or too slow that I was bored, it was perfect and I was hooked instantly.
The acting is brilliant - no faults, I had a special place for every character in my heart whether they were good or bad they all had well told stories.
I would 100% recommend watching this, it will keep you guessing right till the end about the truth and satisfy you with it's ending (hopefully)
My only criticisms is that the whole concept is far fetched (school trial) it could never actually happen and I did laugh at first but it is still fun to watch.

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This isn't a "must watch"

Don't watch it from Netflix/Disney. They cut off minutes from every single episodes. Get the TV version instead. The mystery was dull and its only driving force. There was a need to build up a better case for the importance of the victim before diving in. Once the mystery was revealed, the disappointment settled in. Was this the best they could come up with for the reason behind the death? I was expecting something grand and much darker other than this wacky ass nonsense. The cast performance was decent enough, there was an attempt. Especially with this serviceable production. Go Ah Sung, Kim Myung Soo and Chae Soo Bin were all offered roles but all declined and it seems for a good reason.

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I went into this drama not expecting much from it. If, like me, you want to give yourself a break from the romantic kdramas and like mystery, suspense, thrillers, etc this drama is great. I just landed on this drama after I watched Tale of Nokdu and wanted to see more of Jang Dong Yoon's acting. I did not read about this drama in any article or must watch list but I think it is a must watch. The adults are not always right and not all adolescents are clueless is something this drama shouts from the rooftops.

The story is a whodunit (complex who committed the crime) set in a high school and covers a lot of issues ranging from school bullying, study pressure, strict parents, mental health, corruption etc. And being a mystery it does not have much re-watch value. However its a great drama. I felt the male characters in this drama had strong storylines and were portrayed beautifully by the actors. So woo despite having limited screen time left quite an impact on me and his expressions were bang on with the character. Ji Yoon (Jang Dong Yoon) also brought in a very interesting mysterious element to this drama. Even Joon Yeong had a great role and I guess it has elements similar to what he has portrayed in Meow the secret boy (2020). The boy who plays the judge also did a great job. Coming to the female lead and other female actors. I am not completely disappointed in the FL but her face sometimes comes across as so stiff and deadpan. In fact the main FL, her friends, the other two school girls with important roles are all kind of annoying. This drama is strongly driven by Dong Yoon and I think he could not have asked for a better role for his first main lead drama and he has played the role extremely well.

I read somewhere that most of the young actors who played the important characters were playing their first main roles. Despite all of them being rookie actors I was amazed to see them in this drama.

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Awesome

Awesome
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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Où des adolescents apprennent la justice et l'enseigne aux adultes.

C’est l'histoire d'un groupe d'élèves dans un lycée privé dont un camarade s'est suicidé la nuit de Noël en se jetant du haut du toit du lycée (il semblerait que cette méthode soir assez récurrente à travers nombre de dramas, autant japonais que coréens ou taiwanais !) Jugeant que l'école et les adultes en général ne font rien pour tirer cela au clair, les élèves, autour d'une fille, la meilleure élève, Ko Seo Yeon, décident de faire un procès pour mettre en accusation la brute insupportable de leur classe que tout accuse.


Je l’ai beaucoup beaucoup aimé ! Il y a plusieurs points qui font de ce drama un vrai bijou, entre autre la façon dont ces jeunes tiennent tête à l'Establishment social et familial, et le sérieux avec lequel ils le font.
On est loin du school-drama sentimental (bien qu'à la fin il y ait quand même une lueur à la fois d'espoir et d'amour ) surtout parce qu'on fait une plongée brutale dans cette période si difficile de l'adolescence et qu'elle est traitée plutôt d'un ton réaliste. On y croises des ados cabossés, des familles qui n'en sont une que sur le papier, mais d'autres où la compréhension et la tendresse règnent... Ce procès sera un véritable parcours initiatique pour ces jeunes qui vont en ressortir transformés, ayant franchi un énorme pas vers leur âge adulte, et la conscience de leur existence en tant qu'individus responsables et autonomes...
Bon, quelques fois, le trait est un peu forcé, un peu insistant pour qu'on comprenne bien, mais c'est peu au final et c'est la première fois que je vois une peinture aussi juste des affres de l'adolescence dans un drama !!
Les filles ne sont pas des idiotes ricanantes maniérées, les garçons ont quelque chose entre les oreilles !!

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