Cheer Up (2022)

great potential wasted: disappointing script

This show had a very promising start, however its potential was wasted on an overused and badly written love triangle. actors and production did a good job, however, the script was tooooo lacking. such a second male lead is not healthy. no means no and x times asking and proposing after being rejected is not endearing. I loved the mothers. I would be happy to watch a show of their own. I liked the supporting cast. unfortunately some of the supporting characters had more depths than male lead. It felt like they forgot about him or the main couple in general which than resulted in a rushed ending.

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What a surprise!

TBH I came across this drama accidently and was interested enough to check it out of curiosity and boy.. I was pleasantly surprised by how such a simple story can actually hooked you in. I went to finish all remaining episodes in a heartbeat, and now I can't wait for the next one.

The Story
The story of youth and growth are easily one of my favourite trope. The story of cheering squad makes it more interesting and added with the mystery elements, OK I'm sold. The mysterious parts are not annoyingly discouraging and it was pretty engaging as the story slowly reveals its secrets and twists adequately, so that us viewers can keep on guessing.

I love the epilogue parts. Although I can predict most of it but still it charms me as it should be.

The Casts
The main characters are likable from the get go. The FL is brilliant (ISTG, she is similar to Kim Go-Eun). She is strong yet vulnerable and quirky at the same time. I love her as a whole. The ML also good however he is pretty reserved, and sometimes he was overshadowed by the vibrant energy that FL brings. Overall casts are pretty good.

The Music
Pretty good.

Will I re-watch this series?
Yes. The cheering really got me. >___<

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Fantastic characters trapped in a drab plot

Those first few episodes started out, quite simply, very strong. And then they started to add a bunch of different elements and the final result was a huge cast that was trapped in a story that just tries to do far too much.

From the very beginning I knew that Do Haeyi would become one of my favorite female leads of all time. It wasn't just that she was so fun and bubbly, but also that she was full of paradoxes — She's fun and bubbly but also straightforward, hardworking, prideful, and VERY realistic. Her personality is so relatable and I loved her dynamic with all her family and friends.

I even quite enjoyed the love triangle because it was very clearly about Haeyi's values and choosing between money or love.

As the episodes went on, it just...lost the plot. Parental and class issues are great topics and it was really where the drama shined. I think it could've done completely without the thriller subplot because it always teetered on the line between being an actual legit thriller, and something that was not so different from any other youth drama with an annoying saboteur character.

The love triangle also got so insanely draggy; it was like Groundhog Day seeing the FL reject the SML, just to have him say he's okay with one-sided love, just to go back to chasing her and getting upset when another rejection comes.

Add to the mix THREE side ships (two of which I marginally care about and one which I thought was a waste of time considering how many scenes they got) and I just felt like we were getting bits and pieces of subplots but never the full story. Everything felt half-baked and we barely got to see any cheering.

In tidbits this drama has fantastic scenes and great lines of insightful dialogue that will make you think. In the last two episodes, I absolutely did cry my eyes out when the story returned to the issue of money and life's priorities, and it made me think that it was such a shame that the drama veered away from that and decided to focus on a love triangle and treat it like a random kdrama FL trapped between two MLs, both of which I did not care for.

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Wanted to cheer up, left being frustrated...

The drama lacks a solid story plot, let alone the execution of it. May be fun and thrilling for early teens, but young adults like me might not be fond of this drama. 10+ eps for such a futile plot is not what I signed up for.

I initially thought the drama is related to "Cheer up 2015", also known as Sassy Go which starred Jung Eun Ji, turned out it wasn't.

The cheerleading part is not fun to watch either. They do the same cheerleading steps throughout, the same meetings, the same prophecy-related "mystery" which's execution is rather annoying. I personally don't think a school club that has nothing to offer to your life goals is that important where you don't get to sleep (ML said he sleeps only 2-3 hrs ) and risk your college senior life when it's time to be serious about your career and internships. I'm not saying that cheerleading isn't worth making a livelihood, but in this drama, they clearly don't seem to be passionate about it. It's like they're doing it out of compulsion or guilt of leaving the club.

Something that I can't take in even if I try to is - them claiming that they weren't able to keep in touch with Lee Yoo-Min (the previous leader who got into the accident). No one went to the hospital with her after the accident? They legit assumed she died rather than giving her a visit and seeing how she was doing? Okay, even to assume that she died, try to go to her funeral and pay the family a visit?? Fortunately, she didn't lol, shitty-ass friends she got. Let's say they didn't have her address. Try to find it out from the office administration or even her classmates?? Pretty sure a university takes info of such along with the student's family details?? It's just the ML texting her one-sided. If you that anxious, go find her??? Lol, the writer tsk tsk.

The love triangle side of the story is itself undigestable. There is little to no chemistry between the main leads. The second lead himself isn't a strong character. Idk how people are rooting for the ML/SML, I don't feel any connection at all, just a bunch of stares rather than romantic gazes. Bae In Hyuk deserves a better drama than this. It'd have been better if the story stuck to friendship and college life concepts as I do not feel any compassion for the characters. The main leads aren't given much growth/story either. It's all over the place.

I feel like most of the cast look older than their characters, which might be why I can't feel what I'm supposed to. Casting properly aged people to the roles is vital. The seniors look like they're in their 30s rather than in their late teens/early 20s.

Also, very cringe-y to see characters drinking often and acting drunk. It's not cute at all.

They're trying to make the suspense unnecessarily intense with no strong support to the plot.
Might drop (currently in ep 8).

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jin sunho is a b

hate that b jin sunho, he doesn't understand what no means
i screamed at my tv because he's just such an idiot can't even describe it istg

otherwise the show is great, love the main character
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The back-and-forth between the main leads can be annoying...

I have several issues with this show and there are so many side stories going on that it doesn't flow easily and makes the drama messy.

First, let's talk about the Cheer Team's strict no-dating rule. When it's later revealed what happened to the previous captain and why she left and also the fact that the ML had a crush on her, you understand why the no-dating rule exists. But then we have to watch the ML, Jung Woo, a senior ("sunbae"), have a crush on the FL, Hae Yi, a freshman. There's all this push and pull and flirting back and forth, and then let's keep our distance from each other. I was scratching my head wondering why the hell would the ML, who is now the cheer team's captain, even think of crossing the no-dating rule line after what happened in the past. Not to mention all the suspicious and dangerous things happening in the present. It makes zero sense.

I don't even see any chemistry between the two leads. I'm just annoyed with their back-and-forth and the third love triangle trope keeps dragging on.

Then there's the FL, Hae Yi. I get annoyed at her childish behaviour when it comes to "chasing" the ML. One minute she's happy to chase after him and then when she feels rejected or ignored, her mood changes 180° and she's all sulky. This of hers goes back and forth quite a bit. Let's not even get started on her bad drinking habit and what seems like her irritable bowel syndrome.

Another very poignant fact about the FL is her stance and gripes about money. Her family doesn't have a lot of money so she works multiple jobs and does whatever she can to make money in order to help her brother study at an academy so that he can go to medical school. You can understand why her ex couldn't "handle" her with her penny-pinching and why her brother gets angry with her for always talking about money. The way she's more responsible than her useless mom is annoying too. I hated the scene when her brother ends up at the police station for some kind of fight he got into with another student. The first thing she does is walks into the police station and then goes up to her brother and slaps him HARD, and then kneels and begs for forgiveness from the other party. She doesn't even hear her brother out. That scene was just horrible.

Another horrible scene was one that happened with a female side character, another member of the cheer team. Her ex-boyfriend just walks up to her and slaps her really hard in public because she had "blocked" his phone calls. Sure, she managed to beat him off but still, in reality, in most domestic abuse scenarios, most abusive men are cunning and manipulative and a lot of the time, they don't beat their women in public like that. Most abusers privately beat their victims. I was surprised that the writers went in this direction. I feel like this side story wasn't even really necessary. As if the story was added in as a filler to pass time.

(In regards to both slapping scenes, you can tell the director wanted it really loud and emphasized and it did nothing but leave you hating both the FL and the angry ex-boyfriend.)

The FL has two rich guys who like her... Her ex-boyfriend, Jae Hyuk and a cheer teammate, Sun Ho. Her ex pines after her but is still ashamed of her being poor even though she's hard-working. The SML, Sun Ho, her teammate on the cheer team is really rich and popular and yet likes the FL as she is. He likes the fact that she's a diligent worker. I think that the FL has more chemistry with Sun Ho than with the ML. I dislike the fact that the writers made the FL such a money penny-pincher who works hard but yet doesn't think she can be in the same league or is good enough for Sun Ho because he's so rich. Of course, she doesn't like him for other reasons but her being "poor" shouldn't be a factor. I would rather have her empowered by feeling like she's good enough. Money or no money.

I can't help but keep thinking that the ML who is the FL's "sunbae" should just be that.... a respectful mentor and captain and clearly draw the line at no dating. It's so repetitive to see him try to keep his distance from the FL but as soon as he sees the SML with her, he gets jealous and almost competitive. And not to mention the FL's constant disrespect of Sun Ho's feelings for her. Sometimes she acts so oblivious around him especially when the ML is around. And then she wonders why he walks off or why he's upset. Like, get a clue. I think this is just poor writing and direction.

When they do the cheer practice montage, it's not interesting because the cheer moves look so repetitive with them waving their arms up and down and back and forth and back and forth and back... you get it.

There are all these different stories going on and different characters appearing here and there... the embezzlement, the prophecies, and the mysterious stalker, all the side crushes, he likes her, she likes him, no one likes the other, she's jealous, he's jealous, who is this person now, and back and forth and back and forth it goes... just like their repetitive cheering arms.

(EP 7 as of writing)

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Lost potential..

Just watched the last episode and honestly i am disappointed.....i think the drama had soo much potential, especially the first 6 episodes were soo good but than they had to ruin the story with the love triangle. I didnt really like the motive of the villain either...i think it was kinda lazy to just make him crazy or whatever. I think thats just me but i didnt really understand the connection between Do Hae Yi and Lee Yoo Min.. just because they had similar characters ? I didnt really get that part tbh. I really liked their friendship and overcoming hardships and training togehter i just wish they would have helped other members other that Do Hae Yi out too. I understand that she is the Main character but i think it would bring out their deep bond more and i think it would have been great for the story too. I hate how they made the 3 things that will happen (sorry i dont know the english word) to the team into a big joke at the end by saying "somebody will die of LONELINESS", for me it really made the whole story into a big joke.... rather than a mystery drama it became a comedy. Still i think they are all great actors and i really enjoyed all of their acting. I am just disappointed in the story...

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Nothing to cheer about

LIKES:
Wardrobe was good, same with colour pallet.
Cinematography was okay.
Okay music, nothing memorable.
Familiar locations, same as other dramas.
I liked Hae Yi’s best friend and her interaction with Min Jae.
FX for scrapes and their zombie game, were decent.

DISLIKES:
Pacing:
I skipped some parts, which is why I don’t know what happened in the end For Soo II, after he fought with the “villain”, but I also don’t care enough to watch that whole episode again.
Production and Editing:
Some parts were abruptly cut and hard to follow what happened. Even their episode recap was a mess.
Shaking camera syndrome appears again (lack of using film stabilizer).
Directing:
Drawn out scenes that could’ve spent time on development of characters.
Everyone carries a cell phone, but no one uses it to call 119. Instead they yell at the person who is in distress, over and over and shakes the wounded person.
Overly delayed reactions of characters.
Writing:
Too many filler scenes, plot holes and an under developed love triangle, where chemistry between the FL, ML and 2ML, was severely lacking.
The characters felt like they were in high school, but some looked way older than university.
The thriller wasn’t thrilling and was so obvious who it was. Also how that was concluded made no sense.

OVERALL: The actors/actresses did as well as they could considering the terrible script and filming. This is a decent filler show, when you're waiting for your show to post new episodes. No adult scenes, a few kisses and hugs. Expected more since it's a 2022 made show. I wont watch it again and it barely made it to 4/10 (that was me being generous too).

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Most Boring Main Male Lead Of All Time

The whole story was just very all over the place. The supposedly evil scenes and this mysterious guy just randomly pop up after not being relevant at all in certain episodes and I felt like it was more of an add-on and a nuisance to the story rather than something actually interesting. The concept was great the execution was not so much.
The main issue with the story is how the Main Male Lead had zero build-up with the Female Lead and still got her. I had no problem with him winning since the Second Male Lead wasn't much but at least he tried and had decent chemistry with Female Lead. The Main Lead did absolutely nothing and still won. Especially in episode 13 when they were on the date he messed up in every way possible, had negative rizz, and then she called him annoying even though he didn't do anything and he got a kiss???? That had zero build-up and was just terrible. The Second Male Lead wasn't great and didn't give me second-lead syndrome but since the Main Male Lead was so bad honestly the Second Male Lead would have been better even though he was just alright

The supporting cast was much better as their romances had some buildup and were solid nothing exceptional though. The Female Lead is very outgoing and I feel like people would enjoy her character but the Main Male Lead was just not good in terms of story (Not hating on his acting) it's just the character they gave him didn't do anything and won which still confuses me.

Overall I don't think this drama is worth a watch due to the Main Male Lead being barely relevant and randomly decided he was gonna be the male lead on episode 13. The Second Male Lead wasn't anything great either so he's not worth the watch, The story was a mess although great in concept was not done greatly. I did enjoy the FEMALE LEAD though as she made it bearable to watch and enjoyable at times but still, the Main Male Lead made it hard to watch. Overall this show is not worth the watch.

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Heat Death of The Universe

Well, the drama certainly failed to cheer me up. The entire show was manufactured to be a spectacular disaster. There was no one major issue that held it back but rather a complete systematic failure. Starting from the top of the pyramid, about 80% of the cast members were barely surviving to remain functional. In equal terms, about 80% of the characters were generic youth NPCs from a modern lens. Speaking of characters, how did the writer think that writing the female lead this way was appealing in the slightest? It's baffling! That's also applicable to her cheap copy-cat, Joo Sun Ja, sharing the same revolting DNA. Moving on to relationships, pairs, ex-lovers, triangles, and squares, all of which can be tagged as insufferable spectacles. The reason why the drama added the mystery side plot is because it was unbelievably dry and was in desperate need for something supplementary to help creating the illusion that something is actually happening. It wouldn't have been bad if it served a functional purpose with the overarching narrative. Now, this is a drama about cheering and dancing but this had the worst moves I've ever seen in this context. It was nothing more than choreographed performances by PE teacher for elementary kids. It's seriously bad and embarrassing! Especially when it's coming from Kpop-land. Obviously, there were a lot more to be said but these were some of the highlights. The writer worked on both V.I.P (2019) and this drama, a solid bad track record so far, should be very cautious with future projects.

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Best heartfelt drama I watched in a while!!

Sometimes all we want is some silly romance and some characters that feels like friends, Cheer Up has all of that.

I haven't watched a drama so good in so long, that I had to make a full-on review for this one. The thing with kdramas nowadays is that they feel too forced, too right up in your face, or entirely off (at least to me). This drama was so much fun to watch, the characters were silly and entertaining, and time itself just passed too quickly as I was enjoying this.

The main annoying thing for me here was the love triangle plot, it was a tad unnecessary and sometimes cringe to watch. But at the same time I kind of like to see how it pays some homage to the old dramas in that sense, were we are so annoyed that the main leads just keep going around each other and just never committing. Still, I loved it.

The acting was great, the writing was funny and by the end, they dragged a little bit but since I didn't want to say goodbye to the characters or to the drama itself it was fine for me.

Another thing I have to add it's that the whole thriller plot wasn't anything new or actually exciting, but I get that they were going for a more heartfelt kind of watch and the suspense was just there to add a little spice to the relationships and to make character have something other than their family issues to dwell on, I wish it was explored a little bit more 'cause it felt vague by the end, but then again, the drama wasn't really about that.

If you like goofy dramas about college students just being friends and having fun, with a little bit of a silly thriller, you've hit the jackpot!

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A fun/cute watch with ample cute romance and some suspense!!

I understand other people's comments about how the story wasn't that complex. They are not lying. Regardless, I loved this drama!!
I would NOT call this drama a fail, it did not aim to be a groundbreaking story line and I think it's simplicity is it's charm.

I think it truly depends on the moment in life that you're in. If I saw this two years ago I may not have liked it as much, and I may not love it as much when I watch it in the future. Still, the emotions and experiences that it transmitted is what I will cherish.

I got hooked from the beginning, laughed the whole way through and ugly cried with the last 2 episodes. The fact that it was not that complex was what made me want to sit down and watch it. Lots of giggles and laughs was what I was craving, and I definitely got them!

Yes, there is a love triangle, and somehow, I didn't really mind it. The leads kept me captivated and that was all I needed. I did find the sudden 'do I' 'don't I' halfway through a bit odd and unnecessary, and it did have me worrying for a bit, but they didn't drag it out. There was some over acting by the female lead but it wasn't so much that it bothered me. Her loose and enthusiastic personality felt like a breath of fresh air. I find it so rare to see a character that is who she is in public, and the whole series doesn't revolve around how 'different' she is and how it clashes with Korean society.

The main cast had great personalities and their separate plot lines really complemented the main one.

The music was fantastic! That, plus the choreo, made me want to jump into the screen and dance with them! I started listening to the OST later the same day I finished it and keep humming the melody. The songs are sooo catchy and good!

I'm sure that in a year or two I could totally rewatch this drama. I will probably skip through the 'suspensful' parts as I already know how it ends, but the adorable romance, the dancing and the great OST are worth it!

If you are up for a light, fun drama, with just a pinch of suspense, you should totally check this out!

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