The drama portray on the effect on children being molded by their parents. The story have many twists and turns. What I love about this drama, the acting is on point. The actors are not well-known but they deserve any awards for this drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
Started watching Sky Castle out of curiosity. Never thought I'd get hooked. Honestly, I'm so surprised that a satirical drama was aired and even broke a record because education is really something that everyone takes so seriously and I think this drama depicted it perfectly.
Acting wise, I would give them an overall of 10/10. The actors made the viewers hate their characters so much because they were able to embody them so perfectly. I honestly never hated so much characters in one drama ever. At first, I hated Kang Yesuh because, well let's be honest, she was just plain rude to every anyone when she doesn't get her way of things. Then I slowly started hating her mom, Coach Kim, her dad, Mr. Cha, Park Suchang, etc. But I think the character that I felt hatred toward the most was Hyena. Gahd she was just so irritating that I hoped her character would just die (and she did thankfully). She thinks she can outright anyone just because she doesn't really have anything to fear for. I understand she and her mom went thru a lot but in the end she conditioned her mind that she was always the victim and that became her flaw. While we all hated some characters, we were also able to empathize with them. That's how good they were.
However personally, there is one actor that I think needs to improve his acting a bit more and that's the actor who played Hwang Uju. He was able to portray his character well during light scenes but since his character had more depth towards the end he had to enact more heavy scenes. I don't why but I just find it hard to empathize with him during those scenes. It felt like it was "pushed". It might have been too much for him to portray.
Coach Kim is an interesting character, I expected more than what they revealed from her past. I would've loved to find out what is the main root of her personality. Would've loved learning more about her. And does ending mean, she's back? I think the final episode gave us more questions that answers regarding her.
I think 16 episodes should've sufficed, the drama felt too long at times but nevertheless I enjoyed watching every episodes.
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Realistic, Touching (Almost personal), Relatable, PERFECT.
I couldn't understand the hype when this was the most popular show at the time. I only watched a few minutes of the first episode and was so confused that I didn't continue it. But now that I have, one word comes to mind: WOW.I love everything about this drama. The pacing was perfect—not too fast to feel rushed, but also not too slow to bore you. The soundtrack was also perfect and blended so well into the scene. The theme song, "We all lie," was really perfect for this drama. So many scenes resonated with the song, and it's so pleasing to listen to that it really gets you in the feels.
What made this drama so perfect for me was how it showcased the education system and how accurately it presented academic pressure on students, especially from parents. As the eldest daughter in an Asian household, I can confirm it really is like this and that it's so normalized and common. It shows the extent parents go to ensure their child lives a "successful" life; what more from those of high privilege?
I came in here expecting my blood to boil each episode, as I did with Penthouse (as I was told they were similar, ps. they're not) but regarding how realistic it was, I could only be in awe. The development of the families, both individually and as a group, was very interesting to watch. The comedy laced in this drama was also so natural and so refreshing (in short, not corny), I looked forward to it every episode.
I'm so happy with how the story concluded as well. The events that occurred in the final episode were the culmination of the previous episodes, so it didn't feel rushed at all. It didn't feel much like a drama, it felt like viewing the personal lives of these people and I commend the writers and staff behind this show for creating such wonderful craft that can resonate with most audiences. Kudos.
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It follows the story of filthy rich parents who go about extreme ways to make sure that their children gets accepted into Korea’s top 3 SKY universities (Seoul, Korea, Yonsei) to satisfy their own greed. The drama, despite being a light comedy at times, is extremely heavy, dealing with topics like depression, suicide, toxic parental expectations, and broken relationships. It highlights how flawed the education system is and how it can break children going through it.
What’s especially brilliant about this drama is it’s story and complex characters. Despite having almost all their main characters frustratingly flawed, and even downright evil, which would usually put people off, the story is so compelling that this actually becomes a draw. You’d end up caring for all the families, which makes it even more heartbreaking when you have situations where one family can’t be happy without making another devastated. The adult actors are breathtakingly talented, so much so that it makes the children actors who are by all means decent, seem bad in comparison. This is also the only flaw I can find with this drama. The direction really shows its charms during its intense scenes, making scenes that were already emotional absolutely unbearable. It really is one of the best directed kdramas.
Special mention for episode 17 which is without a doubt the single best drama episode I’ve ever watched, with the heartache I felt from watching it still lingering
TL;DR if you’ve ever felt suffocated by the education system, this will be a hell of a relatable and emotional ride.
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Material success versus true happiness?
This show is definitely worth the hype and record breaking ratings. It's tightly scripted, compelling, multi faceted with an ensemble cast of drama veterans who deliver very convincing performances.The social satire is well portrayed with some excellent acting and dialogue, it may appear high brow on the surface but I found myself watching back to back episodes once I got into the stride of things; this is due to the excellent script which is cleverly written with little to no loose ends.
This show tends to reveal information in an unfolding manner, so every episode peels back a new layer and facet of the story and characters and I think this is what keeps it so entertaining. You don't get the whole story at once, as each event unfolds new tidbits are revealed to keep the viewer fully engaged, so the pacing is tight and consistent. This is where I think the OST was used to maximum positive effect; the song "We All Lie" was so very well applied, every time this song played I knew something was about to go down, this was so exciting to anticipate.
The entire adult cast of this show is amazingly skilled, I enjoyed the fact that they were in the spotlight for a change since these actors usually play supporting roles, they really shine whilst bringing their characters to life and all their skill and experience takes centre stage. Each family was so clearly defined that it didn't take me long to figure out who's who.
The Show's social commentary about the parents' and often children's unhealthy obsession with obtaining top grades in school is delivered in a theatrical and sometimes over the top fashion and this is what gives the show it's special identity and uniqueness, the social satire and dark comedy aspect of it, showcasing the characters' ambition, greed and pretention.
The power plays and stringent adherence to social hierarchies contributes much into how the characters interact with each other.
At the end the Show adequately conveys character growth and plot resolution, I think the last episode went a long way to show us how each character was now living and behaving after mending their ways so to speak.
Overall this Show is bold and I think it achieves what it sets out to do, I thoroughly enjoyed it because it's so polished and very expertly written and acted. Bravo!
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This review may contain spoilers
okay the one and only character i love in this drama is Coach Kim's daughter, Kay. she's warm, innocent, sweet and loves her mother undyingly. i am glad she's not hurt even after eating the curry, i was so scared for her. the last scene when she reunited with her mother in the cell was just heartbreaking, i hope she's always happy and healthy.as expected, this is a weird drama difficult to get through because literally wherever left or right you turn, there's always a crazy person doing crazy sh*t that it gets so tiring/torturing to watch.
i am borderline glad that i finished this drama but it traumatizes me a lot that it's a real projection of how modern society functions. i also don't see a twist where it made me gasped for air or something (like you know, that dramatic moment). i was waiting for it, and it was not enough of shock value for me.
well the one message you can take away from this is given in the last episode when the four ladies were dining among themselves, and one of them said that as long as you make sure that your kids know you love them, and you mould them properly as a person of good character and emotional strength, they should be able to sustain the enormous pressure of growing up in a modern society.
this really hits home, and i hope that i always remember this message when i become a parent myself one day.
P/s i love twins mom and the twins too. what a wonderful, sassy and classy trio.
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It's some sort of meditation on contemporary issues, school, family, expectations, love. There are also some funny moments and also very tragic ones. Even the main villain is not 100% pure evil so it puts everything in some sort of gray area.
The finale was really good in my opinion, there is some character development and that's what I appreciated the most.
The OST song is BEAUTIFUL I normally skip the first seconds of the beginning of a drama but I never ever skipped this song.
I will rewatch this drama for sure, especially because of the ending.
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I think this drama is like a mix of Gossip Girl and Riverdale (without the bad parts of Riverdale). Like they have the vibe.
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Simply brilliant and well put together
What an emotional rollercoaster this entire show has been. There were moments where I was laughing and then there were moments where I was bawling my eyes out with the characters. There were also moments where I was furious and angrily cursing at the characters lol my point being is that this show is simply so darn good that it keeps you hooked on.The cast and the acting is just brilliant! I’m really happy with the way the characters evolved and how the show wrapped up nicely.
Perfectly executed and the soundtrack being so darn good I can’t describe how well it fit with all the drama taking place.
No show’s ending has ever left me feeling so satisfied and whole. I love how they touched upon the education system and parenting ways and the best part being so many lessons were learnt at the end of the show.
Without a doubt I can say that this show absolutely deserves its high rating of 9.1
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A must watch! So original and captivating.
I watched this drama at the very beginning of 2021, and wow I did not expect it to be that good. It's definitely worth the hype that it had when it came out a couple years ago! okay the storyline is SO original and unique and the acting is splendid. The plot is twisted and wild and captivating and wow! Just amazing! I binged watched this one pretty quick, it gave me anxiety and I just needed to know what happens. It always spreads a very good awareness of the struggles and hardships that a lot students face when they have strict parents in Korea. Very amazing drama, well done to the cast and writers!!! A must watch for any kdrama fan!Was this review helpful to you?
Story-
The plot is amazingly layered. Each character is well developed throughout the drama. Each episode is intense. The drama really opens your eyes to how corrupt our education system is. The end episodes are emotional af, prepare a box of tissues you guys. But tbh the drama could've ended perfectly on episode 19. I felt like episode 20 was just an episode to clear up some misunderstandings, fill in plot holes and give each character a happy ending. Episode 20 was not as good as all the episodes before it.
Acting/cast-
Amazing acting from every single character in this drama. Each character is unique and gives off different vibes. Most kdramas have strong male characters that dominate through the drama, but SKY castle different. SKY castle proves to us that females can also be strong, dominant and good actors.
Music-
Nice English OST, not overly used. Most of the time you can barely hear the lyrics, it's mostly used for its instrumentals I guess. Whenever "We all Lie" plays, that's when you know some major tea is being spilled.
That last scene/shot of Coach leaves us with a somewhat cliff hanger. I need a season 2!!!
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