MagicManula
Mostly centered on the rise and fall of an unfixable friendship, it doesn't stretch out the same one plot for sixteen episodes risking to make it lame and repetitive. Different stories are told, just like different stories happen in one high school class. Each of these plots lead back to friendship in the end, but none of them is like the previous one, as they all touch a second different topic, reminding us we're never the only ones who suffer although not everyone has to face the same kind of hardship we're going through.
This drama is original, true, bitter, at times shocking, but also inspiring, hopeful and fun like the age of its protagonists.
I appreciate the complete absence of romance, not because i don't enjoy it but because it's a nice change in kdramas standards.
At times it seems ridiculous the ability this school has to find a reason to expell someone every other day, but nevertheless the screenplay keeps the suspence up until the very last minute.
And there's no reason to deny or hide it: the bromance will kill you over and over again.
This drama is a jewel.
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I haven't read the manga, but i love both versions of the japanese drama. It's honestly one of my all-time favorite and i found the korean version completely off.
The characters seemed like the dull version of the original, while the story felt rather stretched. The atmosphere was totally different, after a few episodes it felt like an independent drama and not even a good one.
And even if i tried not to compare, i could only save Lee Hyun Woo's acting and the hilarity of the show (again, not as dominant as in the original version).
In the end - taken alone - TTBY ranks lower than all other dramas of this genre i've watched.
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From start to end.
An amazing, hair-pulling story of revenge like many others and yet unique, because you take part in it.
You live the background story, the moment when things change, all the steps that have been taken towards the collapse and of course you live the end and it just plays with your own mind.
It's like you are the wronged one, you the one who's seeking revenge. This drama was one of a kind on all levels.
I have to admit it was hard to keep watching at the beginning because like i said, they show you the moment when everything was good so it can seem a bit boring, nothing really happens except for this couple building a family together. But you would regret it if you couldn't hold on through that phase.
Also, it delivers a meaningful message without ever mentioning: that sometimes bad things happen to good people and the culprits get away with it and there's nothing we can do. But also that revenge - whether it comes immediately or years of pain later - might not heal you after all. Clichè but somehow enlightening.
It was beautiful and mature and addictive. Literally painfully perfect.
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I looked forward to this because of the cast, but that's pretty much all i appreciated.
I enjoyed the meaning given to food and cooking: a human need beyond its biological role. On the other hand though, i didn't see any concrete development in the screenplay or in the characters or in the relationships between them.
What i love about japanese dramas is their ability to intensify feelings; in less than 10 episodes you find yourself irreversably attached to the world the show is set in. While in this case love relationships, friendships, family bonds, hindered dreams remain superficial.
Great potential, poorly exploited.
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