for one thing I think it's really easily relatable, Go Ha Neul was just like any one of us, she was a job seeker that was lost and kinda desperate for that stable job, so everything was new to her, and that could be scary, but she handled it all so admirably~
Bae Ssaem was one of my favorite characters, he was easy going, simple and friendly, he really made everyone feel at ease.
Park Sung Soon was the shield for her team and the kids, she always tried to protect them and do what's best for them. and with Do Yun Woo's cool persona, the team felt so diverse and beautiful~
even characters like Kim Yi Boon who seemed like the selfish mean character turned out into a supporting sweet person.
the music was perfect, it fit really well with the atmosphere~
my rewatch values are always a 1 or a 10, and I was really satisfied with the ending and overall message~
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That said, it’s not all rules and cold politics. We get to know an amazing variety of characters, with different motivations, behaviors and ways of dealing with problems, and as we watch, we learn that at times there is no good nor bad decision, but rather a variety of different choices and all of them have some pros and cons to them. The few interactions between teachers and students are truly meaningful and add to the emotional depth this drama presents.
I assume many people may not like Go Ha Neul since she at times acts really cute, unsure and innocent, but in my eyes she is actually a really strong character. With everyone saying she should not get involved or rebel against the system, she fights her battles and proves everyone wrong countless times. There is nothing wrong with being cute and strong at the same time. She wants to stay true to her beliefs, do what’s best for students and survive in a new environment. She makes mistakes but is quick to admit to them and learn from them.
The whole drama revolves around the daily struggles of realistic and complex characters with many flaws but even more good qualities. There are no really bad characters, just different people dealing with problems in different ways. While we might agree with some more than others, it's not hard to see the logic behind them all.
This was truly an emotional ride, which made me laugh and cry many times. By the end, I loved so many characters I disliked at the beginning, and it was all possible because of the amazing writing. We either got fantastic character development or a deep dive into their perspective, which helped us understand their reasoning. While the plot was not the most complex and thrilling, the relationships built between the characters were all we needed to fall for this drama's charm.
For whom: people who like complex and realistic characters, slow paced dramas that truly show problems from different perspectives, character driven dramas, beautiful cinematography.
Who may not enjoy it: people enjoying a lot of action, overdramatic style of filming and dealing with problems, high school dramas that center around students and not teachers, people that get bored with politics and behind the scenes of a workplace, romance driven dramas.
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1What I could not relate to and found absolutely ridiculous was some of the workplace drama and how messed up the school administration was. Our female lead finds herself thrown into the job on her first day and is forced to adapt into what seems like a very fast paced/chaotic environment. There is absolutely no way that a school would take a new hire and throw them into a job and expect them to figure things out without proper orientation and shadowing. I have taught abroad in an entirely foreign country and the process of adapting to the school system there was a lot more smoother than this ridiculous school. There is no way they throw you in deep waters like that, contract employee or not.
I'm not sure what the message of this drama was. There seemed to be vague touch and go commentary on a lot of things, but they would not follow through with the message. I'm not sure what point they were trying to hit home. There were three main things that they seemed to touch upon: difference between contract employee vs. non contract employee, nepotism, and how the South Korean education system is more geared toward college entrance exams than it is on educating students about other life values/subjects (i.e. it's not useful unless it's on the exam). The third one sort of popped up toward the end and was somewhat addressed, but the other commentary sort of faded away. Overall, solid good drama, but the lack of professionalism can be off-putting.
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I have to give compliments to the casting director for the actress, Ryu Ji Eun, who briefly played a teenaged Ko Ha Neul. She bore a striking resemblance to Seo Hyun Jin! SHJ did a great job in her role as a new teacher. And Ra Mi Ran, also as usual, was terrific. I loved the whole Admissions Department cast, and several of the other teachers as well. The few students that they showed more in depth were good actors also - the characters of Jae Hyun, Yoo Ra, and Bo Tong.
This show focused mostly on Ko Ha Neul's growth as a teacher, her aim to be a 'full-time' employee rather than a 'temp', and more on the politics of the school and getting the students ready for college than any actual teaching or even any of the students. As the show progresses through the school year, Ha Neul bonds with her colleagues and with her top students. Park Sung Soon was the 'center player' at the school as the head of admissions, and Ha Neul's mentor. I really enjoyed the camaraderie between the Admissions Dept staff. As an American, seeing the differences of the school systems in S. Korea compared to schools in the US is striking. It looks to be a pretty cut-throat system both for the students and for the teachers.
The show was a warm, emotional, slice of life drama. The music was lovely, and I really enjoyed the song Moonlight by Sondia. It was really beautiful. The show has a slower pace, so just be aware of that going in, but it's got a great story. I was really surprised at how much I ended up liking this show. It had a very realistic feel to it. I would recommend it even if you don't normally like school dramas or even 'politics'.
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For once, a school drama focused more on the teachers and less on the students. The story was pretty good and I really appreciated that they didn't add a romance twist to it, so the drama focused more on the main character and her struggles to become a good teacher who helps her students. However, if I can be totally honest, the last episode was not as good. But, as a whole, the drama was good, sincere, warm and humane. The performances were pretty good too.
So, overall, eight out of ten.
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Neither teachers nor students can blame from the college enterance examination passing marks but the system did.he power struggles by its organization,categorized among the full timer&temporary teacher,power abuse,seniority -superiority&bribery. Students might be the lead of performance in this situation but people forget behind the curtain there is people tied by system and management
We as a perfomances in here (students) doesnt know the world behind curtain (teachers and organization) this drama teach us how to be more grateful to teacher and respect them. Also it reminds society, "The world isn't just made up of people like Yoora and Jaehyun." people like them will be guaranteed success in life either.
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Black Dog falters after its promising opening
I warily watched Black Dog. On one hand, I am a fan of Seo Hyun-Jin, and tvN is a reputable network, but the show is led by a relatively rookie writer & director. The school setting is niche but not novel. The introduction is mere inches from melodrama. Yet, Black Dog starts with a surprisingly open and honest discussion of the main lead’s struggles. Unlike Sky Castle’s overt drama, Black Dog takes a more realistic and understated portrayal of life at Daechi High School.Black Dog progresses with this steady approach until the last quarter. The story seems to peter out as major plotlines are resolved (or dropped) because the balance of the plot is thrown off. New plotlines emerge that do not have the same level of subtlety, and it breaks the sublime immersion created until that point.
Story:
Honestly, I almost passed on Black Dog due to its seemingly bland premise. I wrote it off as a bad Sky Castle impression. Even episode 1 left me with a raised eyebrow until the big “reveal”. Then, Black Dog shows its strength, clear and emotional storytelling. The progression and growth of the main lead is felt with each episode, and it must have been too fast for the writer. The story basically begins a second season (I will not elaborate for fear of spoilers). Unfortunately, Black Dog ends with a “not-as-good Season 2 disappointment” that viewers are all too familiar with.
Acting:
I am 100% biased with Seo Hyun-Jin. Although I favor her roles in romcoms, The Beauty Inside and Another Miss Oh, she demonstrated her range with the first season of Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim. Black Dog leans towards the latter, and Seo Hyun-Jin is responsible for delivering emotions rather than laughs. Furthermore, she does it via the subdued character with conviction, Go Ha Neul.
Shoutout to Lee Chang-Hoon (actually in Sky Castle). He owns a more mature role in Black Dog, versus his roles in One Spring Night and Something in the Rain. Ye Soo-Jung also makes me turn my head after her 180 transformation from Search: WWW. Overall, I am a fan of how the entire cast expands their acting range with Black Dog.
Music:
The backing tracks of Black Dog are a bit vanilla. It makes sense to not overshadow the many subtle and emotional scenes with overly dramatic songs. Though the music pairs nicely with the drama, it does not have impact on its own.
Rewatch Value:
I went from skipping Black Dog to being surprisingly optimistic. Again, it’s disappointing to know Black Dog fails to deliver to my renewed optimism. It may be a more enjoyable watch to less seasoned drama viewers, hopefully, but know that kdramas have much to offer, beyond Black Dog. I look forward to the growth of Black Dog’s director and screenwriter due to the promising signs in Black Dog.
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Also all the information provided regarding the studying pattern or change in the pattern of South Korea’s School System, were too much detailed and for an International fan like me difficult to follow, ending up by skipping most of these scenes.
On a positive note, portrayal of character by almost all the actors was really good also the casting was wonderful, no complain regarding that.
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This one is going to take you into the offices inside a school and you'll be taken on a journey as the teachers go through their behind-the-scenes work to provide education for the kids and all the challenges they face.
Starting out with a horrible accident that changes the life of Ha-Neul forever as it inspires her to become a teacher, the story follows her early career as she joins a school as a contract temporary teacher and is immediately thrown into the middle of intense office politics.
While this drama takes place in a school, it's more of an office drama - the politics between departments, the power struggles of the power hungry, those who are going above and beyond to try and provide the best education to the students and those who come to work for a pay check.
I picked this one up because of Seo Hyun-Jin, i'll watch anything she's in because I enjoy her acting - but I'd re-watch it because of the story and all the other characters without a doubt.
It's really interesting to see the school situation from this perspective, as they are a struggling school that is really struggling to get universities to accept or even consider their students they start coming up with strategies to take their top students and push them further - but then this has other consequences. From an outside perspective you would no doubt share the students and parents view of them being single minded to the top 1% of students but seeing all the discussions, meetings and debates you see that things are always more complicated than that.
There's no romance here, not even the slightest whiff of one, so don't come here expecting it :)
Worth a watch!
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It's Seo Hyun Jin so I don't need to praise her acting skills more.The story is slow and very realistic. Even though Ko Ha Neul looks cute and naive, she's a strong character and fights her battle with smart tactics. I love every bit of the drama and you'll soon realize there's no absolute bad character. They had their needs and desires but they're not bad as person.
This drama still has a lot of room to make it bigger, but I'm happy with this ending.
The only thing I dislike is Ko Ha Neul and Do Yun Woo still not pushing forward :)) They'll be a great couple, not to mention Seo Hyun-Jin is my all-time favorite kiss scenes.
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This may be one of my favorite dramas I've ever seen.
Honestly, I had zero expectations going into this show. It was just recommended to me on Netflix and the premise looked interesting, so I thought I'd give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I ended up enjoying it. I invested in the story and characters ever since the first episode. This drama did a good job at showcasing what teaches have to deal with at school and the pressure they get from faculty, parents and even students.My only complaint with the show was that I wish I'd been split into two parts. After the first set of students graduated and the next school year came around, it felt like the show kind of began again. They spent so many episodes on the first year of Ha-neul working at the school that the next 2 years were mashed into like 5 episodes. It all happened so quickly and wish we would've at least gotten a few more episodes to play out the story.
But, that being said, I still loved the entire show. I would definitely watch it again. This honestly ended up being one of my all time favorite dramas. Please check it out if you need something new to watch!
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I only yesterday found this drama and just casually started watching it just to pass my time.
I had no expectations from this drama however I never thought that I would end up all the episodes in one go. It's an ongoing dramas and I have watched all the 7 episodes in one go.
The story was well written. It's about the struggles of a teacher and the moral challenges as a teacher. Watching the first episode hooked me so much to the story.
For those who wants a fast pace romance and something, then it's not for you. This drama is very deep in sense and has a subtle amount of happy moments to it. It is not as serious as the cover may look but it gives you very good vibes and satisfaction while watching.
I read the reviews that say that they had dropped the drama in mid because its boring and slow paced, I would say it's not because it's a bad drama, it's just its not suitable for them as it has a real sense to the story. It is one those amazing drama that has less romance but the great storyline.
OFCOURSE the cast was amazing and well portrayed their characters.
I hope people will watch this dramas in New sense and this drama will get the exposure that it deserves.
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