Reviews

Yet another revenge drama

Plot and Execution:

The story revolves around the lives of students at Jooshin High School, where scholarship students are often treated as outsiders and the children of the elite wield their power without consequence. The narrative explores themes of revenge, crime, drama, and romance, weaving a complex tale that is both engaging and thought-provoking.

While "Hierarchy" doesn't break new ground in the genre, it effectively captures the essence of similar series such as "Elite" and "13 Reasons Why." The series addresses the serious issue of bullying and its devastating consequences, a recurring theme in Korean dramas like "Revenge of Others," "True Beauty," and "The Glory."

Characters and Performances:

The cast delivers strong performances, particularly Roh Jeong-eui and Lee Chae-min, who bring depth and authenticity to their roles. The characters are well-developed, allowing viewers to empathize with their struggles and triumphs.

Strengths:

Engaging Storyline: The series offers a compelling narrative that keeps viewers hooked from start to finish, with its blend of drama, crime, and romance.

Strong Performances: The cast, especially the leads, delivers powerful performances that add depth to the story.

Relevant Themes: The exploration of bullying, drug abuse, and the abuse of power resonates with contemporary issues, making the series both relevant and thought-provoking.

High Production Value: The cinematography, set design, and overall production quality are top-notch, enhancing the viewing experience.

Weaknesses:

Predictable Plot: The series follows a familiar formula seen in other dramas of the same genre, making it somewhat predictable.

Inspired Elements: "Hierarchy" feels heavily inspired by series like "13 Reasons Why" and "Revenge of Others," lacking a unique identity of its own.

Conclusion:

"Hierarchy" is a well-executed drama that effectively tackles important social issues within the setting of an elite high school. While it may not be groundbreaking or particularly innovative, it provides a gripping and engaging viewing experience. The strong performances and high production value make it worth watching, even if it sometimes feels derivative of other popular series.

With a teaser hinting at a possible second season, "Hierarchy" is likely to maintain its popularity and continue to make noise globally. It stands as a solid entry in the genre, offering a mix of drama, crime, and romance that will appeal to fans of teen romance and revenge dramas.

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This is a great revenge romantic drama set in a historical era. It is well written and the cast did a very good job bringing their characters to life. Li Zong Lin (as Su Jing Yuan / Cheng Yu Yang / Xiao Shu Shu) and Jiang Zhi Nan as Cheng Xi Nian gave a wonderful performance as the leading couple. They were both smart, strategic thinkers, intense and have a fantastic chemistry, whether they are planning their revenge, being childish, or just expressing their romantic feelings , they were really natural and lovely; during conflict of interests or when one thought the other will be in danger, they showed empathy and steadfast support while trying to reason about their actions. This is a wonderful and entertaining miniseries, enjoy it!
The drama can be found on YouTube under the caption: Full Version | The sweet and painful forbidden love with fake uncle | [Rise From the Ashes 小亭台] or Full Version|Cinderella want revenge, but she accidentally got pregnant with her uncle's child- on this one, the beginning is taken from a scene that happens later on but it is the same drama.

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An Endearing, Heartwarming Romantic Comedy Indeed!

“Who is She”- I was stuck by this odd question when I saw the interaction between O Mal Sun & Kim Ae Sim.

What happens when a yesteryear’s star meets a older lady who desperately wants to sing her debut single? A modern retelling of the popular film “Miss Granny”, “Who Is She” focuses on Oh- Mal Soon, a grandmother who magically transforms into her 20 years old self; the only glitch being that her younger self looks exactly like Emily, an aspiring trainee at Unis Entertainment who has gone missing, just days before her debut. The premise did remind me of “Miss Night and Day” where the protagonist transforms from a young lady to an older one. “Who Is She” uses reverse transformation, but the base concept does sound similar. Oh- Mal Soon wanted to be a singer, a dream she shares with her granddaughter, Choi Ha Na. As she gets a second chance to pursue her dreams, the show will focus on her personal growth as she reignites her passion for music.

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2024/12/20/who-is-she-first-impressions/#more-1400

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Maybe I'll come back to the review after this ends idk I'm not rlly a fan

I think the series started off strong, the first episodes were well done but as it went on and the storylines kept getting dragged on for no reason (HillTer I'm looking at you) it slowly started descending until crashing. Yea the last 4 episodes could be good but even then I wouldn't bring myself to rate this above a 7-7.5 and that's mainly for a few reasons

Easter pisses me off and makes me wanna turn this off, Hill is fine I like when he's on screen (whenever his romance with Ter isn't getting strectched) but with Ter I can hardly find any redeeming qualities, I heard he's the same the novel but I still don't like him. Particularly with his weird shipping tendencies, like girl your best friend is stressed out of his mind by the amount he owes to Johan, how's he gonna pay it off and also North has to deal with his own and Jo's feelings, what a good friend would do is support him not SHIP him the debtor!? In what world is that a reasonable reaction. Love you Earth but Easter annoys me to no end

But even if the whole debt didn't exist it would still be borderline creepy shipping him with Jo when North hasn't given any indications or signs that he likes Johan. Yea, we're shown that North indeed has some sort of feelings towards Johan but like, Ter doesn't know that yet he continues to ship them to the point where its genuinely uncomfortable to watch, I just feel like fast forwarding anytime Ter opens his mouth bcs I actually don't care about what he has to say. Just take the antidelulu pills and take about ANYTHING ELSE. I like Hill tho he doesn't annoy me

What does annoy me is how Hill and Ter's story was dragged on for more than needed, wdym it took them 12 whole episodes to become bfs when they knew they liked eachother from the beginning, this is no longer slowburn this is just torture to watch as they make ZERO progress 😭They could've very easily wrapped it up by ep 5 and gotten out of the way to leave space for the other couples instead of making part 1 and 2. THERE WAS NO NEED FOR THEM TO HOG SO MUCH SCREENTIME

Now for JohanNorth, I really liked Jo at first, but recently he's been weirding me out with his borderline creepy behavior, not bcs of the debt (that's justified as North kinda trashed his house) but the way he's pursuing North is just not rlly nice to watch. Buying all the places North works at? excuse um wtf that's not cute that's kinda stalker-ish behavior. Idk I feel like Johan's approaches could've been written better like just give advice to North as to why he shouldn't work there instead of BUYING THE DAMN PLACE, he was also doing an awful job at showing his feelings but that's not rlly a problem. I still have some faith he won't be an overly possessive bf bcs I really want to enjoy their story

Anways that's the end of my rant, idk if any of this made sense but thanks for coming to my ted talk

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recommend

I don't have too many shows where they get a q10, but this one was def one of them. I liked this show so much and i enjoyed the plot. I usually struggle to even watch 16 eps, so the fact this one has 20 and i really enjoyed it shows how great it is. The acting and actors did a great job and i don't really think i would replace any of them. If you like not too much romance or watch a little break, but still want a little hint of it, i recommend this show. They only kissed like one if i remember right and the rest was focused on Vincenzo's and Hong whatevrrs mission. I really like the storyline with the younger and older brother, i was super sad to see the younger one die, but it added to the story. Also, the last frames of torture were gruesome, but phenomenal.

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WATCH

This show is great honestly. I liked the plot, and the writers did an outstanding job. I liked how cold and "stranger" he seemed at first. As the show goes on, they become closer, and he begins to care for her more and think about what it is he is doing. The only part i could say annoyed me was the second couple. Idk I'm such a bitch about the second couple so don't mind me (pls.) I just usually get annoyed when too much of the screen time for the second couple is taken up. but thats okayyyy it was messy, but okay. I'd recommend to anyone reading this to watch it. solid show.

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good development

Overall: I enjoyed the back and forth with the leads/their dynamic. 50 episodes between 1-2 minutes each aired on Vigloo app which also has (Match Play, Rule #1 No Dating Rule, Love in the Apocalypse - My Man's Man is from a female character's perspective and I wouldn't call it a BL series)

Content Warnings: punch, blackmail, homophobia

What I Liked
- caring moments
- non dead fish lip press kiss
- stood up/supported partner

Room For Improvement
- background music was too loud at times

How to Watch for Free (episodes are 50 coins each, you can't skip episodes but once unlocked they stay unlocked forever, there are additional tasks to get more coins like following the company on social media)

Day 1
- watch episodes 1-7 (free on the app)
- can watch 10 episodes free with ads, I unchecked the auto unlock, clicked off of that box and another box popped up saying "view ads to watch for free 0/10" (I did that for eps 8-26)
- watch 15 ads per day for 30 coins each on the rewards page and do the daily check in (eps 17-25)

Days 2 & 3
- watch the 10 episodes, do the daily checking, watch the 15 ads per day (should take 2-3 days in total to watch for free)

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