pash
Italy
Weren't it for a coupla things, it would've been a real gem
I have somehow mixed feelings about this "Don't Leave After School", as there were things I really, really liked about it but unfortunately also a coupla things I really disliked...
What I liked:
1) Li Ting Ting: in my 15+ years of honorable Asian-dramophilia, you can guess I've watched my fair share of high-school themed dramas, and seen many actresses playing the role of a high school girl; well, never have I found a performance more convincing, more strikingly natural, more beautifully "realistic", than the one delivered here by Li Ting Ting! She almost made me believe for a while that I was actually watching a real high school girl, with all the quirky details of a not yet fully matured individual, the weird faces here and there, the goofiness etc.; my virtual standing ovation to an actress who doesn't care about "not looking good" all the time, if that's what it takes to fully portray a character! BTW, the fact that some people here criticized her precisely for that, while other people (or maybe the same people, I'm too lazy to check that detail now, LOL) went so far as to actually praise Tan Song Yun's "performance" in "Dear Mayang Street" (which I, on the contrary, just couldn't stand: that one didn't convince me in the least and, as far as I'm concerned, should be a perfect example of how NOT TO portray a high school girl, what with the annoyingly constant Mona Lisa faint smile and the clear "let's give the cameras my best profile all the time" attitude) is just another proof of how true Clint Eastwood's überfamous quote about opinions is, LOL
2) The subplot with Stephanie Xu's and Li Jun Ting's characters (together with Li Ting Ting's and Xiao Yang's, they were my absolute favorite characters, all beautifully written and masterfully portrayed, BTW), which actually got me more emotionally involved that the main plot regarding the leads, honestly;
3) The OST: not only are the credits songs beautiful (particularly "It's Nice That The Wind Blows" by SIS), but the score is top-notch throughout the entire drama, and adds a lot of value to the whole thing imho!
4) Some of the very creative intro scenes were little masterpieces, really! ^_______^
Were it only for these points, I would've given this a perfect 10, seriously!
Alas, the drama also had a coupla thing I disliked, as previously mentioned, and namely:
1) Not all the characters were so well written, quite a few of the rest (like Fiona, Da Meng, Qiao Mai, Li Da Lai, and the blackmailing creep >___<) were actually basically bidimensional, and that actually pissed me off greatly 'cause it showed some lazy writing in what would've been, otherwise, a real gem.../.__.\
2) The constant use of hand-held cameras; I understand it was meant to kind of "bring the watcher inside the action", but it mostly gave me motion sickness...O___o
All in all, the good points beat the bad ones, so I'm giving this a well-deserved 8...and I'm surely gonna watch more of Li Ting Ting's works in the future! ^___-
What I liked:
1) Li Ting Ting: in my 15+ years of honorable Asian-dramophilia, you can guess I've watched my fair share of high-school themed dramas, and seen many actresses playing the role of a high school girl; well, never have I found a performance more convincing, more strikingly natural, more beautifully "realistic", than the one delivered here by Li Ting Ting! She almost made me believe for a while that I was actually watching a real high school girl, with all the quirky details of a not yet fully matured individual, the weird faces here and there, the goofiness etc.; my virtual standing ovation to an actress who doesn't care about "not looking good" all the time, if that's what it takes to fully portray a character! BTW, the fact that some people here criticized her precisely for that, while other people (or maybe the same people, I'm too lazy to check that detail now, LOL) went so far as to actually praise Tan Song Yun's "performance" in "Dear Mayang Street" (which I, on the contrary, just couldn't stand: that one didn't convince me in the least and, as far as I'm concerned, should be a perfect example of how NOT TO portray a high school girl, what with the annoyingly constant Mona Lisa faint smile and the clear "let's give the cameras my best profile all the time" attitude) is just another proof of how true Clint Eastwood's überfamous quote about opinions is, LOL
2) The subplot with Stephanie Xu's and Li Jun Ting's characters (together with Li Ting Ting's and Xiao Yang's, they were my absolute favorite characters, all beautifully written and masterfully portrayed, BTW), which actually got me more emotionally involved that the main plot regarding the leads, honestly;
3) The OST: not only are the credits songs beautiful (particularly "It's Nice That The Wind Blows" by SIS), but the score is top-notch throughout the entire drama, and adds a lot of value to the whole thing imho!
4) Some of the very creative intro scenes were little masterpieces, really! ^_______^
Were it only for these points, I would've given this a perfect 10, seriously!
Alas, the drama also had a coupla thing I disliked, as previously mentioned, and namely:
1) Not all the characters were so well written, quite a few of the rest (like Fiona, Da Meng, Qiao Mai, Li Da Lai, and the blackmailing creep >___<) were actually basically bidimensional, and that actually pissed me off greatly 'cause it showed some lazy writing in what would've been, otherwise, a real gem.../.__.\
2) The constant use of hand-held cameras; I understand it was meant to kind of "bring the watcher inside the action", but it mostly gave me motion sickness...O___o
All in all, the good points beat the bad ones, so I'm giving this a well-deserved 8...and I'm surely gonna watch more of Li Ting Ting's works in the future! ^___-
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