This review may contain spoilers
Let me start about my saying I am a huge romantic. It doesn't take much for me to root for a couple and I almost always with very few exceptions root for the endgame OTP from the beginning until the end. I usually don't watch dramas that don't seem to promise much romance. However I started this one not expecting it to be a very romantic drama, it was not advertised like it would be. I started it because I'm a fan of Yoon Shi Yoon and because I was interested in the plot and the teasers looked very funny. I'm a huge Kpop fan with an interest in the history of Kpop and it's beginnings in the mid-to-late 1990's, so the drama being about both struggling modern day idol trainees and a 90's idol top star who travels to the future sounded right up my alley. I also was intrigued by the father-son connection and I'm a sucker for good heartwarming family drama especially of the "Surprise, You're a Daddy" variety. So I was expecting a drama about struggles of youth in music industry, friendship, family, comedy, and maybe just a dash of romance. At first I really loved this drama, I was raving about it everywhere, convincing everyone I could to watch it. The thing that shined the most in the early episodes was the comedy, it was gold! The jokes were rapid fire, I still remember many of them and laugh. But even in all the other aspects I was not disappointed at all. I shipped Ji-hoon and Woo-seung, because I found his crush on her really cute and he was such a nice guy. Woo-seung was the only thing that was a little disappointing at first, I liked her character, but the acting was pretty bad imo and I usually don't complain about acting, but here it was sometimes distractingly bad. But even though I shipped them and thought the drama was maybe setting them up to be endgame, I was fine with them not ending up together and didn't expect the drama to focus much on this romance aspect. I did not see Hyun-jae and Woo-seung as a possibility at all, I found it a bit gross because of the Hyun-jae likely being Ji-hoon's biological dad, so he'd be ending up with his son's crush. I really truly did not think the writers would go there. Sure there were signs in the beginning like the kisses, but those were clearly jokes, so I didn't take them seriously. I wish I did.
It wasn't until episode 17-18 that I started to realize the drama was not going the way I wanted or expected it to go. Maybe I should have realized earlier, but when Hyun-jae cuts his hair to a modern hairstyle ditching the glorious 90's hair he had before, I finally understood that he was going to be the romantic lead and this was going to be a rom-com from that point onward, not the sit-com like feel it had before. He was no longer going to be an entertaining comedic character with many flaws but a huge heart, but just a bland male lead as bland as his modern hairstyle with no personality to speak of. Suddenly there was a love triangle between father and son over a girl. I normally am not fond of love triangles, but this one was uniquely horrible. And that girl once a competent independent woman was reduced to a helpless damsel in distress who acted completely illogically just so two boys could fight over "saving" her. For several episodes it was literally a competition between the two men over who could be their first to save her, with the episode ending on a cliffhanger of them both running to save. It made no sense, but Hyun-jae won the contest by saving her the most times so therefore they became a couple or something. I don't know, they had no chemistry and the story did nothing to make up for that. The leads having feelings for each other was just told to us, but never shown, so when they get together it's sudden. Oh and the cliches, oh the romance cliches. Early on the drama was poking fun at them (a spinning accidental kiss in a car where they pan out and show that the car is actually inexplicably spinning). But then it plays them painfully straight not an ounce of comedy left, I cringed so many times. I'm fine with these cliches sometimes, when there is chemistry and a believable build up, but this was a relationship built entirely on cliches, that was nothing but cliches, with no depth or true romance at all.
In the end it becomes a mediocre or even bad rom-com (and very light of the comedy for that matter), not the amazing sit-com/variety/family drama it was in the first half. All the other characters and plots are thrown to the wayside in favor of the lead's boring romance, a romance so bland that the blandness rubs onto everyone else including the leads who no longer feel like the actual characters but merely placeholders in an execise of how (not) to write kdrama romance. After episode 22 I finally dropped this drama, only to read recaps for the rest of the episodes and watch the last few episodes. I still foolishly held out hope that maybe it could recapture a bit of the magic it had in the beginning, but each recap just seemed worse and worse. When I picked it up again I did not feel like I missed anything, the time-travel mystery was obvious to me from the beginning, the father/son connection that had so much promise in the beginning (and was presented as the main plot initially) amounted to essentially nothing (utterly ruined by the love triangle), all the other side plots and side characters got peanuts in the end. Even Ji-hoon, arguably the protagonist in the first half, was reduced to side character in the second and therefore it no longer seemed necessary to give his character the proper development and story he deserved. From an ensemble cast with so much potential, to focusing exclusively on the main leads (and really only the male lead, since the female lead's development was abandoned and she became nothing more than his girlfriend in the end). Maybe it would've worked okay if the main leads were as interesting as they were in the beginning, but no, everything and I mean everything had to be sacrificed for the sake of the OTP. And since these two characters were utterly incompatible romantically in the beginning they had to become different, very boring people in the end to make it work.
Had I reviewed this drama when I first watched in while it was still airing, I probably would've given it one star because I was so frustrated and disappointed with how it turned out. Now with a lot of time passed since I watched it I feel a rating right in the middle is perfect. The first half was maybe the best thing ever, the second half was close to the worst thing ever. It was a classic bait-and-switch. The writers knew what they were doing. Maybe they did it because of audience feedback (lots of knetz complaining about the lack of romance and YSY no getting "enough" screentime) or maybe they intended it from the start. I don't really care either way. I felt cheated and betrayed. Some people will be okay with the bait-and-switch, some will probably even enjoy the second half more. I do not understand those people. If you just really wanted to watch a rom-com, watch a good one, not the pathetic attempt at one this drama has. So in the end, all I can recommend is maybe the first half of this drama if you are okay with leaving things hanging and just want to laugh. Other than that I cannot recommend it.
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First of all there is a plotline. It started off pretty weak but quickly got better. It was funny, it balanced well between cliche and innovation. The most important thing is it was totally enjoyable. There was not even a moment I got bored, I barely skipped anything in this drama. Characters were well developed, even side characters had their story that explained their actions and behaviour. And the relations between them! Something beautiful. Especially good was bonding between Lee Sun Tae and his granddaughter Mal Sook. The humoristic aspect was ideal. I love how they did so many parodies and at the same time managed to make more dramatic plot. No exaggerated plot-twists. I like how they made us think it is going to be predictable but they did something totally new and refreshing. Even the ending was good and it's hard for me to like the ending as well.
Casting was the best thing that could have ever happened to this drama. All those cameos were so good! For those who watch 1n2d they were even more enjoyable. I really liked Deokhwa in this drama as well as his character's granddaughter. Yoon Shi Yoon did great in portraying his characters and changes in him. I want to praise Cha Eun Woo too - he did really good. Hong Kyung Min managed to act so good it had me wondered why did he not pursue his acting career. He was the real scene stealer in this drama. Special mention to Lee Han Seo who made this drama even more approachable. Not to mention Cha Tae Hyun - it is undoubtedly difficult to do both acting and directing, yet he managed to do exceptionally well in both.
When it comes to directing it would be a huge mistake to forget about Yoo Ho Jin. It was his first drama and he did a really good job. I think it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a genius. I am really looking forward for his upcoming projects.
I can't say much about the music in this drama, it's pretty ordinary, nothing's out of order. I do want to say I really like T-ara's song and it weirdly matches this drama well. Also it really bugged me that the instrumental of Yoon Mirae's song is pretty much the same as her previous work in Descendants of the Sun.
Summing up, it was quite a journey. I can't say that as a fan of 1n2d I'm not biased towards this drama team but I tried my best to give an objective opinion. The only thing I hated about this drama is the beginning. I even thought about not watching it and hanged on just because of the cast. And I do not regret this decision.
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The show wasn't a total waste of time and there were cute moments and decent music, but overall I would not watch again.
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This review may contain spoilers
Uum this drama is ddabong!, the story is very refreshing and unpredictable. It's so funny like hell. I lost count how many times i have laughed for this show. This drama is good to cheer you up during tough times in life. Heavy drama could make you think harder and feel nervous, but this drama makes you feel younger because of the comedy. The 90's style is also very nostalgic. It's a journey about an ex-idol who learns about life through his family in the future. He learns to be a responsible adult eventually. It has many aspects, not only talking about one person's life but also the whole characters life, what their dreams, their hardwork to achieve it, a delayed dream that has been swallowed because of uncertainty, etc.Acting is great especially for hyun jae aka da bong. Cha tae hyun always does a great job. Grandpa is so lovely. Mal sok is cute and funny. Their family may not be perfect but they love each other.
Music is ok.
Rewatch: I have re-watched a few funny episodes.
Overall: a very satisfying drama, good job.
SPOILERS:
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Ending is not logical but it has happy ending, so i am ok.
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This story like someone wrote in the comments, didn't know what story it wanted to tell and ended things..weird, maybe that's because the directing -sorry Cha Tae Hyun-. At first i didn't know this was suposed to be like a sitcom for the amount of guest actors the had each episode. the comedy part was fine but the romance part felt so wrong.
There is no character development, the characters have no depth, so when the drama wanted to be more dramatic they failed, and i never figured it out whom were suposed to be the important characters untl the end -there were only 2 important characters-.
And that leads me to other problem, the casting, Yoon Shi Yoon acting like Yoon Shi Yoon he was quite enjoyable until the drama focused on him, then he was annoying and his acting was exagerated ,Lee Se Young is beautiful but she cant act and seriously she is not comedy material the girl was awkward to watch, thats why i coudnt like those characters. The rest of the cast is good especially the olders, i mean chae Tae Hyun, Yoon Son Ha,Lee Duk Hwa made me finished this drama because of how good they are in their roles that made me love their characters.
The music , they wasted the opportuny to show something memorable like in Repply 1997
Is not part of my plans to rewatch this drama, not even for some actors.
Overall this is far to be one of the best dramas of the year, really unrealistic in many aspects ... i mean Lee Ji Hoon is too good to be real.
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I really thought that the story was pretty shallow and simple at first but its last episodes proved me wrong. It makes you think that you already know exactly what's going to happen next or how it is going to end, but there would be lots of aspects that would leave you off guard. I just think that the story had so much more potential but it was constricted because the drama was only 16 episodes.
Acting was great, and I was not disappointed with anyone's acting at all. I loved all of the relationships this drama had to offer — friendship, family and romance. The actors and actresses made the relationships so real, everyone had chemistry with everyone hahahaha. (Special mention: Soon Tae and Mal Sook, this is a grandfather-granddaughter combo that would always be in my heart)
OST WAS JUST DDABONG. It is a very rare occurrence for me to like all the OSTs of one drama but for The Best Hit, all of the soundtracks were just amazing. (I am not even exaggerating here, their soundtracks are just so really great).
Andddd I would definitely rewatch this. Yoon Si Yoon's character in this drama is someone you'd definitely miss, Hyun Jae was reaaaaaalllyyy noisy and all over the place but he was so precious, I can't get annoyed with him.
Overall, it was a heartwarming drama. The characters were so indulging, I feel like they are actual people I know in real life. Now, I need to figure out what I am going to do with my life since the drama is already over. And this is the first review I made in this site, just proves that The Best Hit really made an impact on me.
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The story can sound a little stupid but it's better than you can think! The drama has everthing: comedy, family, romance, fantasy, drama, friendship, etc...and a cute funny couple.
I love the OST too, I listen it like everyday.
I recommend it for everyone
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This drama was all over the place and most of the places it went weren't good.
The story/plotline is really messy. I had my doubts about this drama because of the whole time travel thing, and my doubts definitely weren't gone after watching this. The drama lost focus throughout and it felt like there really was no central theme the drama was trying to portray. This wouldn't have mattered as much if the drama compensated for it in other ways, comedy etc., but it didn't. In fact I've little to no idea what I was supposed to have gotten from watching this. The writers almost scratched the surface of different issues but as soon as it seemed they'd go somewhere with it, they'd stop.One thing that I always hope when watching a kdrama is that it will not only provide interesting and deep main characters, but supporting characters who are eye catching and attention getting as well. That's one of the many areas that this drama fails in. Bo Hee is the most boring character ever. Drill is also boring which is ironic because I think he was supposed to be the fun and quirky friend but instead he was just annoying and one dimensional. The grandpa and Mal Sook could have been really cute and interesting but they weren't given enough backstory for me as the viewer to care about them. I also felt that the focus shifted from the supporting characters all of the sudden to just a couple of the main characters rather suddenly and nonsensically. This wouldn't have bothered me as much if I was super into the main character's storyline, but I'm gonna be honest, the main characters really weren't a whole lot more interesting than the supporting characters. Yoon Shi Yoon's character, Da Bong or Yoo Hyun Jae started out cute, but as episodes went on he started bothering me more and more. Kim Min Jae's charcter Ji Hoon had potential to be intriguing. I liked his whole struggle with choosing his life's path at the beginning when he wanted to debut even if it wasn't encouraged by those in his family but instead of developing that, the writers just dropped that and chose to start ignoring Min Jae's character. He became the guy who had a crush on the girl and nothing else really happened to him. MJ, played by Eunwoo, I probably liked the most but his role was really small and he didn't get to do much. The main couples romance didn't seem natural and I didn't feel the chemistry between them. Kiss scenes kind of cringy in my opinion. I think I shipped MJ with Woo Seung more than any of the other guys. Obviously there were parts to this drama which I liked otherwise I wouldn't have forced myself to finish it. But I would not recommend it and I almost regret watching it, but not quite.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A Time Travelling Pop Idol , That’s A New One, Korea...
Hit the Top was a strange mix of cliche and heartwarming plot to say the least. The beginning of the show was undeniably dragged out. Rather than simply introducing us to our main protagonists in addition to our main protagonist , Hyun Jae,time travelling escapade to 2017 and meeting the gang in maybe two episodes max, the show drags this on for more than three episodes. Like most drama scriptwriting, this does give viewers to see a little more upon the individual circumstances of both past and present versions before and after Hyun Jae’s mysterious death in 1994. The “younger” range of characters who Hyun Jae begins to live with , are Ji Hoon, the studious adopted son of Gwang Tae and the polar opposite of Hyun Jae, (however, he also aspires to be a popular idol, )Woo Seung, a young student desperate to pass her university exam and of course MC Drill, one of Hyun Jae’s best friends and trainees at the same entertainment company. The characters which have connections to Hyun Jae’s past, are probably the characters who go through the most development in the show. Hyun Jae’s former manager and friend, Gwang Tae, juggles between his feelings for Bo Hee , managing the dying company and of course trying to be a paternal figure to Ji Hoon. Bo Hee longs for her glory days but is a washed up star, seemingly narcissistic and less than a maternal figure to her son Ji Hoon, however, her character certainly goes through a lot of development in the course of the plot, most certainly finally letting go of her weighed up guilt to Hyun Jae’s death. Then of course, there’s Sundae. The chairman of one of Korea’s most successful groups, now similarly disregarded by his former contractee, Soon Tae’s growing idol business and battling old age. In terms of development, whilst the show did focus upon the main mystery upon Hyun Jae’s disappearance and to a lesser extent Ji Hoon’s twist parentage, a lot of the cushioned storyline such as the relationship between Woo Seung with Hyun Jae , diminished the focus upon familial relationships within the show. Whilst a lot of critics jump to point out the age difference officially between Woo Seung and Hyun Jae in 2017( I.e Hyun Jae is officially in his 40s and Woo Seung is still only in her 20s), my biggest problem did not come through this. ( Although a lot of critics also forget that Hyun Jae is from 1993, and consequently is still in his 20s.) It was not to do with the lack of chemistry between the leads, but, rather it diminished the main focus upon Hyun Jae’s familial relationships, as well of course trying to overcome the plot hole of the butterfly effect which just drags deeper downwards, near the ending of the show due to of course the error of one of the main plot reveals. Naturally, the ending did offer a happy release for viewers and tied down the fates of the characters , however, it didn’t truly feel connected together as a final and complete ending, considering that one of the main plot’s storylines was nearly erased entirely from its appeal.Was this review helpful to you?
This is not only the story of a guy who time travels to 2017, it's way more than that, and with every episode that passes you'll realize it.
It has an incredible cast with incredibly chemistry between them, YSY amazed me in ways any actor have done it, especially in the 31st episode (if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about, it will blow your mind)
I have been watching tv shows since who knows, and this is probably the first time that I was so terrified of playing the last episode of a tv show because I was afraid of letting it go.You would not believe all the theories that run through my head while watching this, all the sad and all the happy endings you can imagine, but at the end the writers played me again (after having done it at least four times through the whole drama) and closed up the whole thing with a perfect ending, with a perfect quote and with a perfect scene.
Honestly if I could I would give the writers all the prices they deserve and even more.
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Firstly, the story is really a very interesting one, involves time travelling but also mysteries about the past as well as dreams, friendship and romance. This interesting plot line captured me a lot throughout and I was so so so curious about what's going on. Many wild guesses and imaginative moments. Also FUNNY! Maybe because Im used to 2D1N kind of humour so this drama is really a crazily hilarious one for me.. So if you're a fan of the variety (Season 3), go for it!
And here comes the negative points of the drama. I see many comments about how this drama deviated away from the direction that they wished it went (story focus deviated) which I agree but it wasn't too bad cause my ship sailed for me. The only disturbing point for me is the ending. It was happy and ok but wasn't quite satisfying. Just left me still puzzled.
Next, the acting was superb. I wont deny that I'm a fan of YSY but that is because his acting is really good (and underrated). His portrayal of the drama is amazing especially since his real personality is totally opposite of his character in the drama. And CTH, KMJ, LSY and all the actors/actresses are equally amazing. I mean it. (Im just mentioning YSY in detail cause Im a fan haha) Im just taking out 0.5 marks out cause I think I may have missed out any awkward acting.
Lastly, Beautiful Beautiful is such an addictive song. I think PUNCH deserves to be called an OST queen... Not to diss Glabingo (the duet singer with PUNCH), but PUNCH should just sing with the EXO members to create more OST and drama hits. BUT THEN Beautiful Beautiful is still a perfect masterpiece:) More notable OSTs form the drama include Dream (rapped by KMJ), the songs by KyuHyun and Yoon Mirae (go Google).
It was a really an enjoyable drama, gave me reasons to stay at home on weekends. Cried at some points and laughed throughout. I think at some points it gave us a lot of deep reflections. It was a drama worthwhile of my time. I will give it a rewatch when I miss MR DDABONG because he is such a precious character. Let me end off by going off topic (like how I started), I hope Yoon Si Yoon can live more freely like how his character is in the drama, and lastly, I wish all actors/actresses/crews good luck in creating their Best Hits in life. You too!
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