lapis
Daydreaming somewhere.
Ms. Kim's Million Dollar Quest
2 oamenii au considerat această recenzie utilă
The general tone of the drama is lighthearted and manages to avoid getting excessively angsty or sappy even in its more serious moments, and while the plot itself isn’t particularly complex the strong writing and acting make the story engaging. One impressive aspect of the writing is how it plays around with expected gender roles and various tropes, with perhaps the biggest example being how the female lead contributes more to her and the male lead’s shared income and is therefore the boss of any business ventures between the two, while the male lead continually acts as her rock. It’s also shown that the male lead isn’t conveniently an expert fighter, and in the relationship between a couple of the supporting characters, it’s the girl who happens to own a car and therefore drives the guy home after work.
Most of the characters feel like real, nuanced people as well, but the two leads in particular kept me hooked. The female lead isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and call people out on their bullcrap, and she’s resilient in the face of all the problems that beset her while still showing how much she’s struggling to keep herself together. She’s also remarkably perceptive, unless it involves noticing people’s emotions. The male lead, for his part, doesn’t wallow in self-pity when he’s suddenly hit with major financial problems and instead throws himself into earning money however he can, motivated by his devotion to his mother and desire to keep her in the family home she’s emotionally tied to. He’s an unapologetic player, but he’s also goofy and softhearted. The two characters have a sometimes teasing, sometimes testy relationship with one another, but they develop a mutual reliance and respect for each other. The secondary leads have a somewhat unusual dynamic to their relationship that made it interesting to watch unfold, too.
Of the supporting characters, the standout to me is the male lead’s mother. Most of the time she comes across as sweet but kinda spacey, but every now and then her reaction to a situation was wonderfully surprising. The loan shark who regularly tries and fails to be suave and his silent yet loyal right-hand man were constant sources of entertainment, as well.
As far as the music goes, it isn’t my favorite but it did grow on me after a bit and it does compliment the show nicely.
Overall the drama never felt draggy to me and I really enjoyed the entire thing. The endearing characters, excellent writing, and fun tone kept me absorbed throughout, and I can definitely see myself revisiting this sometime down the line.
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Cine Ești: Școala 2015
1 oamenii au considerat această recenzie utilă
One of the overarching themes is the struggle of growing up and figuring out who you are as a person while dealing with others’ expectations of you. It shows the meaningful difference it can make to have people you can rely on in your life and how much harder things can be without that support. Another important recurring theme is learning to admit your mistakes and trying to make amends for them.
While the drama’s tone mostly avoids getting too dark, it does deal with the subject of bullying and illustrates the serious repercussions it can have. I hesitate to critique such a sensitive issue, but from a narrative standpoint I feel like they could’ve done a better job portraying its effects in the beginning. More specifically, I never felt like the female lead had reached the mental place required for the major turning point early on before it happened. Aside from that one exception, the subject is handled remarkably well.
Whatever gripes I may have with certain things, the entire cast did a great job and probably could’ve handled even more if the script had allowed it. Not only does every character seem engaging and believable, but the relationships between them are interesting to watch unfold. To highlight a few of the supporting ones, I like how comfortable Eun Byul (/Eun Bi living as her) and her two female friends are with each other and appreciate how they navigate rocky points in their friendship by generally trying to stay understanding of one another’s feelings. It’s also entertaining to see the antagonistic dynamic between the class delinquent and the second male lead, primarily because it comes across as strong annoyance rather than deep hatred. The main teacher’s relationship with his students is always a bright spot, as well.
Focusing more on the main cast, the actress for the twins probably had the toughest job of anyone since she had to portray two separate characters, but she pulled it off excellently and each one feels like an entirely different person. The male leads are both genuinely likable and adorable in their own way, and their actors effortlessly conveyed each character’s struggles and emotions. I also deeply appreciate how both male leads generally respect Eun Bi’s autonomy and don’t try to force her to choose them, which helps make her evolving bond with each of them one of the biggest strengths of the drama.
Among the supporting cast, the most memorable and impressive to me is Eun Byul’s mother. The actress was exceptional as a devoted mother and some of her scenes are especially poignant. The stubborn and scheming bully, on the other hand, is a fitting antagonist with a sobering arc. The class president also deserves mentioning, as he has some of the most compelling development of any character.
As for the music, every song is amazing and I’m pretty sure this was the first drama where I specifically looked up the soundtrack after finishing it. …And proceeded to listen to it on repeat for who-knows-how-long. Honestly, it’s still one of my favorite OSTs.
All in all, I actually really like this drama and have rewatched it several times. The entire cast is talented and the fantastic music is a cherry on top, and despite some dumb moments the overall story still holds up. It also ends on a strong note, devoting enough time to show how the myriad relationships and characters are fairing with things playing out in a mostly satisfying way. That said, I’ll admit that I considered dropping the drama about halfway through the first time I watched it because I was so exasperated with certain plot contrivances, but I decided to keep going and didn’t regret it. Now that I know what to expect, I just enjoy the ride whenever I rewatch it.
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The story is what draws me in every time, and the actors all played their roles convincingly enough. It’s interesting to watch the various characters cope with the situations thrown at them, from the more humorous moments like the first official and exceedingly awkward meeting between the human and angel after she’s charged with protecting him, to the more serious aspects like the death god being all too aware that slowly becoming human means gaining unwanted human emotions.
The music suits the drama pretty well, though there are only about two or three songs with lyrics throughout the whole show and those are mostly limited to the beginning and end of each episode. Even so, the opening song in particular is so cheerful and upbeat that I’m perfectly willing to keep it in my head for a few days.
As for the subject of the male lead’s voice getting dubbed into Korean, I can kinda see both sides of the issue. On the one hand (assuming the actor wasn’t proficient in Korean) it would be odd if only one character were speaking in another language and it wasn’t acknowledged by any of the other characters, and if it was acknowledged it would’ve almost certainly distracted from the story’s intended focus. And to be fair, I think whoever provided the dubbed voice did a solid job on conveying the appropriate emotions for the character in any given scene. On the other hand, it was kinda distracting to be able to tell the words I was hearing didn’t quite match the movement of the actor’s mouth, and I would’ve liked to be able to hear the actor’s own intonations and how he chose to deliver the lines.
So ultimately, would I recommend this drama to others? Absolutely! It’s sweet, charming, and has a touch of melancholy to it without ever getting too dark, and at only two and a half-ish hours total it can be completed in one sitting. I’ve rewatched it multiple times over the years and I’ll probably return to it again in the future.
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I will say as a remake it follows the original plot pretty closely, but the writers did a top-notch job adapting the script. They managed to improve an already solid story by fleshing things out a bit more, making the characters and events feel more grounded and believable.
The plot deals with some heavy issues, including bullying, attempted suicide, and the enormous pressure parents can pile on their children’s shoulders, and doesn’t shy away from showing how damaging they can be. Despite that, it balances the darker moments with a hopeful tone, exploring themes of finding yourself and the bonds of friendship and family, and how those things can make you a stronger person. It also touches on the courage needed to admit your mistakes.
The script has a lot of meat to it, and the cast, main and supporting alike, rose to the occasion. It was interesting to watch the dynamics unfold between all the characters, which in some cases had the added wrench of a sometimes-unknown identical twin thrown in to complicate matters.
As far as the main cast goes, the actress for Mind/Meen was downright phenomenal in her dual roles and successfully made each twin a distinctive character through her expressions, mannerisms, and the way she carried herself. Tida’s actress also thoroughly embodied her character of a cruel bully who doggedly clings to the belief that she’s blameless. I feel like both actresses outperformed their male co-stars, but even so the actors for Na and Gun did well in their respective roles as each character goes through their own emotional highs and lows. In particular, I love how convincing the strong friendship between Na and Meen seems.
The supporting characters are also well-developed, with each one coming across as a unique individual facing their own challenges. A few standouts to me are the stoic class president Pete, his single-minded mother, and Lyla, the sweet but less outgoing of Meen’s friends. My favorite supporting character is probably Na’s dad though, because I simply adore how supportive he is of his son without ever pressuring him. He’s the epitome of a good parent.
The music compliments the show quite well, though there are only about three or four main songs including the instrumental piece in the opening. Nevertheless, each one is excellent and I never once skipped the opening or ending credits because I enjoyed the music so much.
The closest thing I have to a critique is actually more like wishful thinking, but it feels like the romance is actually unnecessary to this story. It’s done well, yes, it’s just that the other themes are so compelling I think they could carry the show by themselves. Had it stuck with only platonic relationships and exploring the idea of what makes a person uniquely them it could’ve stood out even further in the “high school drama” genre.
On the whole, I enjoyed this show and despite the improbable premise, most aspects felt real with characters behaving in believable manners. The ending was generally satisfying and even impressed me with how it handled certain relationships. It allowed sufficient time to resolve all its plot threads and show how each character is doing.
There’s something about this story that keeps me coming back to it (in one version or another) so I definitely expect to rewatch this at some point.
And lastly, here’s a quick comparison of this version and the original for those who might want an idea of how they stack up. As mentioned earlier, there are mostly minor changes, like this version dropping the short “video interviews” at the beginning of the first few episodes and instead going into more detail on other things, particularly the early bullying scenes which seem more vicious and unrelenting here. The affluent twin also feels like she has a little more depth in this version. Finally, there’s a plot thread that relates to the female lead’s actions way back in the beginning that’s ignored in the original version but actually gets acknowledged here. Overall I consider both versions worthwhile with great acting in each, but I enjoy the story slightly more in this one, while the music in the Korean version manages to edge out its counterparts here.
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