theematchabun
somewhere out of nowhere
This review may contain spoilers
A Mixed Bag with a Dose of Deus Ex Machina.
Before I started the show, I expected a fun lighthearted youth drama about a bunch of 20-something year olds finding success in a saturation of big coporate businesses. Boy, was I wrong because I got the opposite. If you're someone who enjoys full blown gushy romance, this show is not for you. It definitely gives off an anime-risque vibe on the first few watch with its vibrant setting & flashy array of costume/outfits with a rambuctious main theme song sung by the talented Gaho. The core essence of the show is the main character's journey towards his ambition of success & revenge against the largest food company in Itaewon, J Co run by Jang Dae Hee.
The story is presented to the viewers from Saeroy's perspective as a teen boy into his adulthood as a 29 yearold. Saeroy is a socially inept adult who comes off as revering, & upright but also awkward & aloof at times, but nonetheless a calm, collective person who doesnt let injustice fly by. As a teen, he is somewhat distant to social circles due to his nature but after unfortunate circumstances, grew up to be someone of compassion & friendly. Saeroy's finer quality is that he's very patient & understanding of others. He is a man who lives with a set of principles. But his greatest attributes is also his greatest flaw which hinders his development. He's stubborn as a mule.
Park Seo Joon does a great job playing the role of Saeroy. There's alot of nuances in his body language & facial expression that doesnt rely heavily on dialogue. I dont consider myself to be a fan but this drama actually made me like him.
Yiseo is the main counterpart to the drama's story to helps Saeroy on his path to success. She is introduced as genius teen turned 20 years old who has behavorial issues & depression. She's nonchallant towards people, crude, unmannered, impulsive & reckless with a disregard to rules. Because she grew up self-absorb, so she is also narrowminded. Her quality is being wellversed in todays tech/social media & her expertise in management/business although she reads a bit like a know it all- encyclopedia. Her partnership with Saeroy as a friend/business partner is one of the show's highlighted aspect. Because she's presented as a terrible person, her flaw is her change to be good heavily relies on her love for Saeroy, not neccessarily for herself.
Kim Dami is a star. Her performance on this show has been my favorite thing about the drama. She plays off Park Seo Joon really well. Theres alot of nuances. She's a great emotional actress who cries effortlessly well. She's given alot to do in terms of dialogues & physical performance and she hits every beat.
I appreciate the heavily flawed characters since majority of them are introduced to be purposely terrible, which is quite refreshing from the usual cast of goody two shoes. The villians are fine. After or so they become a bit cartoonish & downplayed along the way but good performance by Yoo Jae Myung & Ah Boh Hyun. Kwon Nara does a fine job with what she's given with to do as Soo Ah.
I wasn’t too keen about the way the show highlighted social issues, specifically regarding bullying, mental health, sexual harrassment, anti-lgtbq, & racism. It is great that the show decided to delve into these kinds of issues especially in retrospect to todays's out look on marginalized people, depression, problematic behavior. The problem is when social issues are presented to the viewers, it isnt quite explored in depth & is gloss over in a light manner. It has potential but the writing barely scratches the surface. There's definitely psychological aspects pertaining to certain characters but it's not addressed in depth. Everything seemed to resolved by mere call outs and hollow apologies.
Overall, the characterization left something to desire, somewhat 2-dimensional. There's potential to explore the complexities of the characters. Everyone's existence barely revolves outside of Danbam or Saeroy's character. The viewers dont get to see how characters lead their daily lives, where they live, how they eat, sleep, the usual domestic activities. The writing lacked character development. The sudden growth exist to serve as a plot point. Drastic character action/change without buildup. The story suffers from a dose of deus ex machina. Certain things happen too seamlessly. The struggles/obstacles don't hit hard enough & is resolved in a short mannered. A story like Itaewon Class & its cast of characters, the show needed to be atleast 20 episodes to give everything more depth or maybe it's just the flaw in the writing. Because of the show's short span of 16 episodes, its drawn out sometimes as heavy-handed exposition rather than gradual progression.
Dont expect romance. Kim Dami & Park Seo Joon does a very great job at portraying the heartfelt moments between the two. SRY & YS were obviously two depressed people. The fact that the show didnt delve more in depth into their psyche to make it more palpable through out from have made SRY & YS much more relatable than how they were presented. YS was intrusive half the time. Im not sure if the writer intended this to be read as romantic because it is not. The codepedency is jarring. I initially liked the idea of YS & SRY as a pair more than what the show presented them to be overall. Their platonic relationship rings much truer early on as friends/business partners although Yiseo exudes verbal harassment & uncceptable behavior in the workspace.
Visually, it is a good looking show. The cinematography is beautiful. The ost & music composition is great. The show does suffer from straight cuts, which is apparent in the later episodes towards the later run in the show. Ep 1-10 are the strongest in terms of direction/acting & in writing. Ep 11-12 are fine. Ep 13-16 during the timeskip arc has glaring issues from a technical standpoint, both in writing & direction. The early essence of the show is bare & the storytelling feels bogged down. It almost reads something out of a telenovela or a kdrama from early 2000's. It's all very anticlimatic & everything is tied into a nice little bow at the end. Certain events felt contrived.
The way the show-writer handled the overall story is a mixed bag. It does have its moments but potentially to have more finesse throughout. If you want a revenge story with more grit, you might look somehwere else. But all in all, its one of the more unique & entertaining dramas that I watched with its distinctive cast of characters.
The story is presented to the viewers from Saeroy's perspective as a teen boy into his adulthood as a 29 yearold. Saeroy is a socially inept adult who comes off as revering, & upright but also awkward & aloof at times, but nonetheless a calm, collective person who doesnt let injustice fly by. As a teen, he is somewhat distant to social circles due to his nature but after unfortunate circumstances, grew up to be someone of compassion & friendly. Saeroy's finer quality is that he's very patient & understanding of others. He is a man who lives with a set of principles. But his greatest attributes is also his greatest flaw which hinders his development. He's stubborn as a mule.
Park Seo Joon does a great job playing the role of Saeroy. There's alot of nuances in his body language & facial expression that doesnt rely heavily on dialogue. I dont consider myself to be a fan but this drama actually made me like him.
Yiseo is the main counterpart to the drama's story to helps Saeroy on his path to success. She is introduced as genius teen turned 20 years old who has behavorial issues & depression. She's nonchallant towards people, crude, unmannered, impulsive & reckless with a disregard to rules. Because she grew up self-absorb, so she is also narrowminded. Her quality is being wellversed in todays tech/social media & her expertise in management/business although she reads a bit like a know it all- encyclopedia. Her partnership with Saeroy as a friend/business partner is one of the show's highlighted aspect. Because she's presented as a terrible person, her flaw is her change to be good heavily relies on her love for Saeroy, not neccessarily for herself.
Kim Dami is a star. Her performance on this show has been my favorite thing about the drama. She plays off Park Seo Joon really well. Theres alot of nuances. She's a great emotional actress who cries effortlessly well. She's given alot to do in terms of dialogues & physical performance and she hits every beat.
I appreciate the heavily flawed characters since majority of them are introduced to be purposely terrible, which is quite refreshing from the usual cast of goody two shoes. The villians are fine. After or so they become a bit cartoonish & downplayed along the way but good performance by Yoo Jae Myung & Ah Boh Hyun. Kwon Nara does a fine job with what she's given with to do as Soo Ah.
I wasn’t too keen about the way the show highlighted social issues, specifically regarding bullying, mental health, sexual harrassment, anti-lgtbq, & racism. It is great that the show decided to delve into these kinds of issues especially in retrospect to todays's out look on marginalized people, depression, problematic behavior. The problem is when social issues are presented to the viewers, it isnt quite explored in depth & is gloss over in a light manner. It has potential but the writing barely scratches the surface. There's definitely psychological aspects pertaining to certain characters but it's not addressed in depth. Everything seemed to resolved by mere call outs and hollow apologies.
Overall, the characterization left something to desire, somewhat 2-dimensional. There's potential to explore the complexities of the characters. Everyone's existence barely revolves outside of Danbam or Saeroy's character. The viewers dont get to see how characters lead their daily lives, where they live, how they eat, sleep, the usual domestic activities. The writing lacked character development. The sudden growth exist to serve as a plot point. Drastic character action/change without buildup. The story suffers from a dose of deus ex machina. Certain things happen too seamlessly. The struggles/obstacles don't hit hard enough & is resolved in a short mannered. A story like Itaewon Class & its cast of characters, the show needed to be atleast 20 episodes to give everything more depth or maybe it's just the flaw in the writing. Because of the show's short span of 16 episodes, its drawn out sometimes as heavy-handed exposition rather than gradual progression.
Dont expect romance. Kim Dami & Park Seo Joon does a very great job at portraying the heartfelt moments between the two. SRY & YS were obviously two depressed people. The fact that the show didnt delve more in depth into their psyche to make it more palpable through out from have made SRY & YS much more relatable than how they were presented. YS was intrusive half the time. Im not sure if the writer intended this to be read as romantic because it is not. The codepedency is jarring. I initially liked the idea of YS & SRY as a pair more than what the show presented them to be overall. Their platonic relationship rings much truer early on as friends/business partners although Yiseo exudes verbal harassment & uncceptable behavior in the workspace.
Visually, it is a good looking show. The cinematography is beautiful. The ost & music composition is great. The show does suffer from straight cuts, which is apparent in the later episodes towards the later run in the show. Ep 1-10 are the strongest in terms of direction/acting & in writing. Ep 11-12 are fine. Ep 13-16 during the timeskip arc has glaring issues from a technical standpoint, both in writing & direction. The early essence of the show is bare & the storytelling feels bogged down. It almost reads something out of a telenovela or a kdrama from early 2000's. It's all very anticlimatic & everything is tied into a nice little bow at the end. Certain events felt contrived.
The way the show-writer handled the overall story is a mixed bag. It does have its moments but potentially to have more finesse throughout. If you want a revenge story with more grit, you might look somehwere else. But all in all, its one of the more unique & entertaining dramas that I watched with its distinctive cast of characters.
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