If you came here expecting something similar to School 2013, then you might be slightly disappointed or pleasantly surprised. I found that there were fundamental differences between the two series despite being categorised under the same franchise. School 2015 focuses more on romance and mystery rather than the realistic struggles within a school setting - this by no means means that there are no realistic elements of this drama. We do get the struggles between teachers and authority, bullying, the difficulties of studying in South Korea, and general focuses on different types of parenting. These elements of the drama are definitely accessible and relatable to some audiences, but I felt that the way the writers dealt with these issues among their main focus of twins, romance, and mystery, tended to overshadow some of the more serious issues at hand.
In terms of the story, I think the first 3/4 of the plot was solid. Everything involving Eun Byul's disappearance to the mysterious messages from a dead classmate were very well thought out in my opinion. It kept me interested and speculating all the time, thinking of all the possibilities, which was why I really enjoyed this series. If you like playing the guessing game and trying to pick up on all the clues then this'll be an enjoyable series for you because the writers did well at dropping hints and keeping the audiences guessing. But I hate to say it, the resolution of the mystery left little to be desired. I honestly thought that the writers could've done more with it since they put so much effort into building it up only to let it fall flat. The mystery went into the back burner in the last 4 episodes or so, and this is where you start to see what the priorities of the writers are - playing with the love-lines and romance. Not that I don't love a good romance, but the writers kept playing with the audiences expectations - forcing many to come down with that dreaded second-lead syndrome.
This is where the acting comes into play. Yook Sung Jae completely won me over with Tae Kwang so it was no wonder that he won so many people's hearts. He played the troubled but playful character so well that you couldn't hate him. I could totally understood Tae Kwang's actions too, but Han Yi Ahn was just conflicting. Nam Joo Hyuk did well at the beginning but as the series went on, it slowly became apparent that he was lagging behind slightly in the emotional acting department. But I think that he had little to work with considering the way that the character was written. Tae Kwang had more character development than Yi Ahn - thus Joo Hyuk never really got to shine as brightly as Sung Jae.
However, it was Kim So Hyun who really carried the show. Who would've thought that a 16 year old could carry herself so well in two roles? You could seriously tell how well she acted Eun Bi and Eun Byul by the tones and styles of each character, which were distinctly different from one another. Of course, the stylist and makeup artist had a great role in aiding visual distinctions between the two, but Kim So Hyun held the two characters very well on her own.
I also have to mention Jo Soo Hyang who played Kang So Young. She impressed me with her acting. Playing a bully isn't as easy as it looks, but she fell into the role so naturally... not sure if that is a good or bad thing but nonetheless, also praiseworthy. Yet once again, her characterisation was flawed as no one really understood what the hell was going through her mind - hateful for hateful sake, maybe? But that wasn't Soo Hyang's fault.
So all in all, I enjoyed this series, but the writing and the story became flawed in the final stretch. I loved the idea of the mystery and the switching of twins, but I couldn't help but crave more depth. For instance, how was Min Joon's homelife now? Is Shi Jin still struggling under the educational tyranny of her mother? How did Soo Jung's modelling career pan out - we saw snippets that suggests that something happened but no details. Things just felt slightly empty as questions/characters weren't as neatly tied up as I wanted. However, I still think that this is a good watch and it made me look forward to Mondays and Tuesdays!
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