I'm no expert on the Korean high school experience, but I found myself relating to several issues brought up in this show about the school system, like suicide, overbearing parents (on both their children and teachers), grades and the pressure that comes with it, loneliness etc. I suppose this is what makes the show 'realistic' as these are live issues. These tugged at my heart throughout the show. This is as much a show for students as it is for teachers. It looks not only at the pressures on students but also on teachers. Interestingly, modern themes like social networking etc don't really figure much in the show, but it doesn't bother me. Every generation will obsess over something trendy, but the friendships and relationships formed around these trendy things will be universal from generation to generation. Where there's a classroom with students, there will be gossip, some troublemakers and lots of friendship. As for modern technology like tablets and smartphones, and why they don't appear much in this show, my guess is this class is mainly made up of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, so they don't possess such expensive gadgets. As others mention, there is no romance in this show. Personally romance didn't figure in my high school experience, so it wasn't a big factor for me. In fact I preferred that way as I could then focus on other themes I felt were more important. The tone of the show is certainly gloomy. Its pace faltered, especially at episodes 10-13. I could feel like some plots being rehashed at some points. But happily, it picks up at episode 14. Many episodes brought me on a roller coaster ride of emotions - from moments that made me sob like a baby, to moments where all I wanted to do was bitch-slap some of the villainous and know-it-all characters in the class. Well, all in the day of a Korean drama watcher. On the bromance point, it is resolved quite soon in the show, leaving us with a good balance of passive-aggressive expressions of concern for each other, and cute moments of friendship and brotherly love among the characters, for better or for worse. I do hope to see Lee Jong Suk and Kim Woo Bin more on the Korean drama and movie scene soon (doesn't hurt that they're pretty cute haha). I was particularly moved by Jang Nara's performance as the caring homeroom teacher of the class. I could feel a teacher's sincerity through each gentle word of encouragement or comfort she spoke to her students. On previous criticisms that the ending is 'abrupt' or too open-ended, I feel the tone of the drama would have been disrupted if the ending was too neat or fairy-tale. Students' lives won't necessarily be transformed and their problems won't be instantly solved because of one good year with one good teacher (not doubting the transforming power of one good teacher though). In addition, the fact that the characters are young students means the future is always open-ended and open to change. So I actually really like the ending. All in all, a good line from the show to sum it up is: "It's not yet time to let go of the kids' hands."