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User Reviews for: School 2017

chillikun
CONTAINS SPOILERS8/10  4 years ago
> A refreshing High School drama that focuses on the emphasis on educating children on ethics than mugging by private tutors.

PLOT
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The story itself is nothing special or unique actually. You have your usual tropes, clichés and unbelievable problems, but the writers still managed to pull off a captivating and engaging script that doesn't let go - in addition a cast that did an amazing job with their assigned roles.

Each one of them gets slowly introduced to you, some earlier and others a bit later. I liked the pace they kept with those because it helped building up my sympathy for them and made me care for their backgrounds and problems - why they acted the way they did and whether I could relate to them or not. [spoiler]Except Hee-chan i can understand relate to the behaviour of every other character ; but this guy is rotten to the core even if he became that way due to parental pressure. [/spoiler]

The part that actually made me deduct points in my rating was the second half and final 'battle' and the fact that they sketched ALL the rich people as the power abusing, unreasonable jerks we already know from other dramas. I would have loved to see at least one or two exceptions ; provide them redemption or show them losing [spoiler] there is no change in behavior of the parents and no corruption charges on them [/spoiler]

The pacing in the first half of the story is good until [spoiler] X starts making friends and being honest about his feelings and actions [/spoiler] but the pacing in the second part is very slow and the cliche' & logic is very obvious .

CAST
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The casting for this drama was spectacular. I was rather surprised to learn that this was Se Jeong's first acting role. I was never one for the Produce 101 series but I didn't realize she was actually a kpop idol haha. Either way, she really knocked it out of the park! It kind of reminded me of my girl Eunji when I first saw her in Reply 1997. She's got that spunk, for real. I can't wait to see her again in another series someday.


I was quite happy to finally see Kim Jung Hyun in a leading role. After his impressive appearances in Jealousy Incarnate and Crash Landing on you , he deserved a good script and the opportunity to shine more. And he did! He was cocky, wicked, short-tempered, smart, childish, funny, charming, lovely. The perfect hard shell with a soft core.

Kim Se Jung. I think I was never more impressed with a young new actress who doesn't have much experience so far as this seems to be her very first decent role after acting school. She pulled off the role of a feisty, strong-willed young female student who fights for her dreams and friends with such confidence, that you might think she did acting ever since she was born. Believe me, I'm not exaggerating. Kim Se Jung has great potential and I'm sure she will become one of the big ones one day (She didn't get much opportunities in last 3 years so far)

Skinship looks very natural as well. The leads had chemistry that got me going on the second half ; a pure innocent love with high school setting is everyone's dream but not widely explored well in K-Dramas ;but overused in Japanese shows.

Jang Dong Yoon was another new face for me and like the other ones, he convinced me with his acting from beginning to end. Same praise goes to the rest of the cast as well who harmonized quite well with each other. You start to like some of them more and other less, but that's the plan anyways, right?

Most of the teachers are already experienced Sunbaes, so it's not surprising that I can't point out someone who actually failed at his or her performance. Their characters' bad behavior spiced up the story, of course, although not all of them were bad people. But I'm a little sad that most of them stayed flat with their stereotype impression of your usual villains.

VERDICT
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So, overall a highly enjoyable drama that encourages you to root along with the good guys and maledict the bad ones, while a sweet and caring storyline completes this average yet exceptional drama. If you're looking for something lighthearted that manages to raise your blood pressure in a good way nonetheless, this is definitely the right choice.
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