BlueberryMuffin
out & about
This review may contain spoilers
I actually liked this drama :)
I initially did not want to watch this drama because of the several reviews and comments on here claiming it was a bore, disappointing, and lack luster. Fortunately, I chose to go ahead with it mainly because I really like Cha Taehyun and his acting and I was super curious about Krystal's performance. I was surprised by how much I was able to enjoy this, but of course I can't say this was a technically perfect drama, its a great bromance watch but not an overall deep plot.
What I liked/loved:
-Seeing Jung Jin Young from B1A4 again was so fun! Also his acting performance was superb, I was eating up every word. Also can we talk about the type of main lead he took on, so refreshing! In this drama he plays a uninspired and dreamless high school senior and eventually college freshman with a sad past and many flaws. Watching this character learn and grow was relatable and quite humorous.
-Jung Jin Young and Cha Tae Hyun's bromance was everything, its not "romantic," but the beginning is hilarious to watch and it eventually becomes a touching relationship between sort-of mentor and mentee. I kept going though this drama just to watch their little moments. (Sidenote: Cha Tae Hyun makes a great senior detective, very convincing!)
-I loved to hate the character Park Min Kyu, omg! He was so annoying as the second male lead, but in my opinion I think it fit this role so I included it in this list. I liked that they eventually made him mellow out and become friends with the main male lead.
-Is no one going to talk about the setting? Correct me if I am wrong, but this is the first k-drama that takes places in a police university, which IMO was pretty cool! I love watching dramas that give me a better insight into different areas of South Korea, I realize this drama covers very broad topics and is likely an extremely dramatized and romanticized version of real life police schools and life in this country, but I still find it interesting and new to the k-drama world. (P.S. I know K-movies set in police universities exist, I am talking about specifically episode oriented k-dramas.)
-Despite the sensitive topics it covers like, death, adoption, and just serious crime in general, I appreciate that the drama strayed from creating an extremely depressing and gloomy atmosphere. For example the ML's back story was explained and came up through out the drama, but it was presented as an event that altered his life physically and psychologically but he's accepted it and is able to live on with the scars, and not as this incredibly painful and mentally destructive event. (I'm not trying to be insensitive here, what I am trying to say is that his 'sob story' wasn't milked til the last drop like I see in a lot of other dramas, it was a more realistic portrayal.)
What I did NOT love as much as the afore mentioned things:
- The mysterious corruption gambling investigation plot, at FIRST was fun. I liked watching the ML and his professor investigate, go on little detective sprees, and uncover all kinds of clues. HOWEVER, the mystery eventually became less and less engaging, I ended up wanting to watch more of the ML's school life and love life. Around episode 12 I was kind of over the whole "whodunnit?" bit I was ready for that to be over and to focus on the ML's growth and school problems. I don't agree with a lot of commenters that the drama should have been cut down, instead I think the way that certain clues were revealed should have been done differently. I think they let the viewers in on everything a little too early.
-Krystal's character towards the end made me reconsider the importance of her role all together. Don't get me wrong I loved her and the ML crushing on each other, becoming friends, each of their jealousy over the other and all that lovey-dovey stuff but as soon as she was clued into all the detective drama I started to dislike her. To keep it short, the ML was going to break a lot of school rules and put himself in a dangerous position to save his professor and her mom. Her character decided instead of helping him, she was going to stop him or impede him as much as possible and then eventually in the ML's most trying moments she breaks up with him. I hated this side of Krystal's character, I realized later that this was likely done to push the episodes along, but I was peeved that she literally went out of her way to stop him going so far and sticking Min Kyu on ML and his friends to get them in trouble, and the whole break up while the ML was struggling the most was just down right aggravating!!! They have a happy ending nonetheless but her behavior kind of killed the cutesy romance vibes I was loving between them.
-Lacking in the back story department. What I mean by this is that I felt several areas need further explanation but we never got that. One example of this is the ML's parents deaths, we don't get much more than a couple flashbacks in the beginning and then no further depth, which I thought might have been helpful in understanding the ML's behavior and personality better. I will say that this doesn't detract from the drama, but IMO would have been more helpful. The other place I thought a good flash back was needed was in the end when we find out who was behind the whole mystery corruption/gambling crime, as I write this I don't even remember the entire "why" aspect of it all, like what exactly was the purpose of this entire crime chain?? I wouldn't know. But like I said the school content was more interesting and substantial enough for me.
My Conclusion:
If you want a lighter kdrama watch, that focuses mainly on the ML's perspective and has a good mix of mystery and university drama this is definitely for you. The underlying plot of the corruption crime was great but faltered some towards the end, it was still watchable however. It was not disappointing IMO, I finished it thanks to the bromance, the interesting setting, and the growth of the ML. It was super fun to watch, made me laugh every episode, and didn't force me to think too hard about anything. The ending was also quite happy, if that matters to you, like it does me. Its a good mindless watch, I would suggest taking it slow and just relaxing with this one instead of winding yourself up in all the drama and mystery.
What I liked/loved:
-Seeing Jung Jin Young from B1A4 again was so fun! Also his acting performance was superb, I was eating up every word. Also can we talk about the type of main lead he took on, so refreshing! In this drama he plays a uninspired and dreamless high school senior and eventually college freshman with a sad past and many flaws. Watching this character learn and grow was relatable and quite humorous.
-Jung Jin Young and Cha Tae Hyun's bromance was everything, its not "romantic," but the beginning is hilarious to watch and it eventually becomes a touching relationship between sort-of mentor and mentee. I kept going though this drama just to watch their little moments. (Sidenote: Cha Tae Hyun makes a great senior detective, very convincing!)
-I loved to hate the character Park Min Kyu, omg! He was so annoying as the second male lead, but in my opinion I think it fit this role so I included it in this list. I liked that they eventually made him mellow out and become friends with the main male lead.
-Is no one going to talk about the setting? Correct me if I am wrong, but this is the first k-drama that takes places in a police university, which IMO was pretty cool! I love watching dramas that give me a better insight into different areas of South Korea, I realize this drama covers very broad topics and is likely an extremely dramatized and romanticized version of real life police schools and life in this country, but I still find it interesting and new to the k-drama world. (P.S. I know K-movies set in police universities exist, I am talking about specifically episode oriented k-dramas.)
-Despite the sensitive topics it covers like, death, adoption, and just serious crime in general, I appreciate that the drama strayed from creating an extremely depressing and gloomy atmosphere. For example the ML's back story was explained and came up through out the drama, but it was presented as an event that altered his life physically and psychologically but he's accepted it and is able to live on with the scars, and not as this incredibly painful and mentally destructive event. (I'm not trying to be insensitive here, what I am trying to say is that his 'sob story' wasn't milked til the last drop like I see in a lot of other dramas, it was a more realistic portrayal.)
What I did NOT love as much as the afore mentioned things:
- The mysterious corruption gambling investigation plot, at FIRST was fun. I liked watching the ML and his professor investigate, go on little detective sprees, and uncover all kinds of clues. HOWEVER, the mystery eventually became less and less engaging, I ended up wanting to watch more of the ML's school life and love life. Around episode 12 I was kind of over the whole "whodunnit?" bit I was ready for that to be over and to focus on the ML's growth and school problems. I don't agree with a lot of commenters that the drama should have been cut down, instead I think the way that certain clues were revealed should have been done differently. I think they let the viewers in on everything a little too early.
-Krystal's character towards the end made me reconsider the importance of her role all together. Don't get me wrong I loved her and the ML crushing on each other, becoming friends, each of their jealousy over the other and all that lovey-dovey stuff but as soon as she was clued into all the detective drama I started to dislike her. To keep it short, the ML was going to break a lot of school rules and put himself in a dangerous position to save his professor and her mom. Her character decided instead of helping him, she was going to stop him or impede him as much as possible and then eventually in the ML's most trying moments she breaks up with him. I hated this side of Krystal's character, I realized later that this was likely done to push the episodes along, but I was peeved that she literally went out of her way to stop him going so far and sticking Min Kyu on ML and his friends to get them in trouble, and the whole break up while the ML was struggling the most was just down right aggravating!!! They have a happy ending nonetheless but her behavior kind of killed the cutesy romance vibes I was loving between them.
-Lacking in the back story department. What I mean by this is that I felt several areas need further explanation but we never got that. One example of this is the ML's parents deaths, we don't get much more than a couple flashbacks in the beginning and then no further depth, which I thought might have been helpful in understanding the ML's behavior and personality better. I will say that this doesn't detract from the drama, but IMO would have been more helpful. The other place I thought a good flash back was needed was in the end when we find out who was behind the whole mystery corruption/gambling crime, as I write this I don't even remember the entire "why" aspect of it all, like what exactly was the purpose of this entire crime chain?? I wouldn't know. But like I said the school content was more interesting and substantial enough for me.
My Conclusion:
If you want a lighter kdrama watch, that focuses mainly on the ML's perspective and has a good mix of mystery and university drama this is definitely for you. The underlying plot of the corruption crime was great but faltered some towards the end, it was still watchable however. It was not disappointing IMO, I finished it thanks to the bromance, the interesting setting, and the growth of the ML. It was super fun to watch, made me laugh every episode, and didn't force me to think too hard about anything. The ending was also quite happy, if that matters to you, like it does me. Its a good mindless watch, I would suggest taking it slow and just relaxing with this one instead of winding yourself up in all the drama and mystery.
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