adramalover
So to make it short: the bullying plot is a bit tiring. Asia is known for that. I have seen my fair share of bullying series and movies. The last was the Chinese movie "Better Days" which I thought was one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen in my life. So it's not the bullying per se I have a problem with. It's just that the plot was paperthin and we got nothing than violence and violence and violence. I started watching this, because of the friendship between the guys. But the characters weren't that developed. For eight episodes we didn't get much scenes that showed us their friendship. We just got fights and fights and fights to the point where I wonderd WHY people enjoy this. They enjoy seeing high schoolers beating each other up for no good reason? They just didn't stop! I know that was the message of the series, that something small can become massive, that violence leads to more violence, but it was just tiresome to watch how they just didn't stop for god's sake! The end is more or less open, it seems one of the character had a much more gruesome fate in the manhwa. At least they didn't go that far in the series and decided to not be so precise about what happend to him.
Sigh. Gruesome. Violent. Pointless. Unrealstic.
Still I get it why people like it. Because it's entertaining, you want to know what happens next, and the only thing I really liked was how the weak hero was fighting. He was smart and he had balls, and well, he was a batshit crazy. But that was enough to fight those bullies. That gave him a big advantage despite not being physically strong. That core idea was pretty good. But please give those characters a bit more personality and make me feel something for them. I was just annyoed the whole time. The friend and what he did, at the end he said he doesn't know it either WHY he did it - people may say, yeah, that's the whole point, everything got out of control. I think this is lazy writing. They just didn't stop so the plot could move forward. I got a bit teary eyed at the end, because of the great performance of the main hero, but I didn't cry since I couldn't feel much for those characters. They were just so unrealstic with all that pointless violence. I thought it was funny how they just went back to teaching after all those fighting in the classroom. I mean after the first episode all the other students who witnessed this would need some therapy in real life. It was stupid. Over the top. Maybe this works as a manhwa, it sure does, but seeing real people behaving like this? I don't know. Not impressed.
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Teased too much!
I'm at episode 11 and I will drop this now.I was rooting for this series and praising it a lot. The first 3 episodes were very entertaining. The style of storytelling was different. First, we learned about Gun's POV, then about Tinn's. There was some mystery involved about why the school president was doing what he was doing. This series felt very fresh with great storytelling. The plot was dumb and clumsy, but the humor and the charms of the characters made this hilarious. Both Gemini and Fourth were not only casted for their good looks, but for their great musical talents. In fact this feels like a musical BL series. The songs are great. Both have great voices. Both can act. The side characters are gerat too.
So why did I drop it before the finishing line? I guess I'm too old for such series that are only cute and cute and - did I say cute? There is not enough tension or conflict. The characters are nice and do their best to live good lives and be decent people. While I normally enjoy such characters, there is just nothing to look forward. I didn't enjoy the plot with the sick mother which started around ep 4, even though it was executed well. I think I liked ep 6 when they went on a date, because some progress was to be seen in their relationship. Then they dragged the plot with the musical contest out too much, though I know this is an important part of the story. Later they introduced a side couple that I didn't like to be honest. They apparantly have time for everyting, but NOT for showing us some progress in the relationship of the main characters. For people who enjoy a cute musical series with some cute boys, I can recommend My School President. But I personally enjoy a series that pulls on my heart strings and were I sit on the edge of my seat. That's not the case here. I wasn't even well entertained for the last couple of episodes.
So why did I drop it at last minute? The simple reason: they are teasing us with kisses. That's shabby. Those two actors are very young. At the beginning I thought we wouldn't get a kiss at all, which is fine. The story is on the cuter side, no need for heavy make-out sessions. But the teasing! I don't like it. It's not cute. Don't create those almost-kiss-situations. It honestly comes across as if they didn't want to go that far. It's just strange. As if they were insecure about their feelings at this point. They don't give us good explanation why they don't kiss. They just create those cute scenes, put them into the previews and the thumbnail so people will watch. They are making a fool out of the viewers. No, thank you. I won't watch that kiss if it will ever happen. I'm not that thirsty. So ep 12 gets no views from me.
I would rate this with a solid 9. But the enjoyment got lost along the way, so I would still give it 8.5, because objectively speaking this is pretty good. Now I'm pissed about those tease-kisses and I will only give it 7.5.
They went too far.
I'm still waiting for that one series where two characters get together, have a normal relationship with causal showing of physical affection, with causal kisses without making a big deal out of it. So as a viewer you can feel and see they are together. They failed again. Not as hard as 2gether did, but they failed.
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Questionable morals
What I love about this series the most is my reason for rating it rather low this time.I love the complexity of the characters and the morals portrayed I don't always agree with. In s1 for example I thought Master Kim was a bit too harsh. As an older doctor, a mentor, he didn't do a good job teaching his pupils. But his character grew, and it was wonderful to watch. In s2 he appeared much softer and was less harsh. I thought his character development was done pretty nicely.
Now, at s3, I again have some issues with how certain events are portrayed. This time it's not about Master Kim, it's about a 17 years old boy who died, because a doctor forgot to check on him. The grieving mother is now the villain, and I must ask: Is there a cheaper and more tasteless way to create a villain? You can do this in a superhero movie, but not in a hospital drama series.
Let me elaborate this case a bit more. A 17 year old boy got in a car accident. He looked fine. Dr. Jung forgot to check on him. He died. We as viewers are now supposed to cry with Dr. Jung, because he made a mistake and is suffering because of this. The whole event was done to show us how overworked the doctors are, how they do their best and aren't perfect. Dr. Cha stepped in and scolded (!) the grieving mother, telling her, other patients were more important than her son, and the hospital did nothing wrong. In fact, that was a lie, because Dr. Jung forgot about the patient, and the moment he died, he was just stitching up some leg of another patient.
Again, think about the mother. The congress woman loses her 17 years old son, because they forgot to check on him. This was for sure the worst day of her life. Can you imagine the sorrow, the desperation, the anger? She lost her child! But nope, we were meant to sympathize with the doctors and to applaud Dr. Cha's speech, which was unnecessarily harsh. If you think, I'm exaggerating, then just look at comments of viewers that say "I hate the congress woman! Kim Sabu fighting!" Not wanting to finance the hospital is of course wrong, but what they did to this mother is unforgivable. Not to mention that Cha Eun Jae was the one who tried to reanimate the boy, didn't succeed, and minutes later we saw her talk with Woo Jin about her love life. The whole event had no visible impact on her. Incredible. In the same episode we also saw Ah Reum cry and break almost down, because she lost a patient that was so old, he could have died a decade ago. Tell me about the morals in this series!
If I had witnessed such an unfortunate event of a young boy losing his life too early, I would have other things in my mind than my silly love life. It seems the love stroy between Eun Jae and Woo Jin is pretty popular, that just tells me that some silly housewives are boosting the ratings, because this love is so childish, immature and boring that I have to skip their scenes. I don't want to lose too much brain cells.
Back to the boy: What happened? He was in a car accident, but seemed fine. Did he have internal bleeding? Why no autopsy? Again: WHY NO AUTOPSY? It makes no sense and is a very big writing mistake. With an autopsy they could have identified the reason for his death, and even rule out that Dr. Jang was at fault, because perhaps they couldn't have saved him anyways?
Honestly, this whole plot made me drop the series. I only came back weeks after.
Talking about the rest: Cha Eun Jae is not a likable character, which is okay. But Master Kim being so soft and nice to her is a bit irritating. Woo Jin is too dependent on Mater Kim, and even though people are gushing over the actor, most likely because he is very attractive, his acting could be better. There is something so lethargic about this character. Since I haven't seen the actor in anything else, I'm not sure if it's the actor's fault or just the character.
Last but not least: The romance between Ah Reum and Eun Tak is also a candidate for skipping scenes. We aren't in Kindergarten anymore, are we? Still the characters have a nice screen presence, and I'm not mad at them. Dr. Romantic was always a bit cheesy and "romantic". Most characters are pretty weird. That's the charm of the series.
The return of Dr. Kang made me love this series a lot more, because of the emotional tension and psychological complexity it brought back. But seeing people hating on him and rooting for Cha Eun Jae just shows me that some viewers apparently lack any common sense and emotional intelligence or are just as childish as her.
In general, this season was very irritating. It was also intense, and if not for that terrible plot with the 17 years old boy, I would give it 9 out of 10 stars, maybe even 9,5. But now I can't bring myself to rate this higher than a solid 7.
Btw, the two new doctors aren't likable at all. Not everyone can be an important genius, so it's realistic that those two will be just part of the stuff. They made one of them the comic relief, which is okay. At the beginning I seriously had no idea what they were even trying to do with them, they both lack skills and charm.
Woo Jin and Dr. Kim are carrying this series like they did in the last season. The psychological issues and the tension are making this series worth watching, the characters itself are hard to love. Well, with the exception of Kim Sabu, nurse Oh, Nam Do and the hospital manager. Seriously, those four are the highlight for me.
Sigh.
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I have fallen out of love
I wanted to wait until the last episode airs before I write a review, but now I'm not sure if I will watch this last episode.If you want to know, why this series is so great, read other reviews. Whatever those reviews say, it’s mostly true: the series is very well written, well acted, with an interesting and engaging plot, very well developed and complex characters, and some mature storytelling you don’t see often in this genre.
We have different people with different personalities and different sexualities: a hetero girl (Pear), a hetero guy (Knot), a open gay gay (Max), a gay guy in the closet (Pisaeng), a guy who has to figure out his sexuality (Kawi). That’s an ensemble of characters I have never seen before in any other BL. So 10 points for that. Of course this constellation with a love triangle in the middle causes lots of drama and complex issues.
But again, read other reviews if you only want to hear about the good stuff.
About the bad stuff: I tend to fall in love with many GMMTV series until episode 7. This series is no exception. The first half was fun, crazy, exciting, lovely. The second half not so much. Reading comments on MDL, twitter, YouTube I really wonder why so many people are unable to see those characters for who they really are. They are able to recognize that Kawi is problematic, but they are completely blind about Pisaeng, because they only see his love as pure, innocent and romantic. He isn't portrayed as a bad person, but he is seriously dense, and I think this character has not much depth and not much brains. I must say I liked Pear more as a character, and thought she was the least problematic. Still, those people love each other, life is complicated and things can get out of control. So the writing isn't the problem, that's why I rate this series rather high. Objectively speaking it's good, but if I talk about my personal feelings: I have fallen out of love. At the end it was just all a bit too cheesy, a bit too sad, a bit too depressing, a bit too slow. I hoped to see them being together, happy and crazy, but in ep 11 we only got to see a montage of some future scenes without any story behind it. If they had some dialouge it was a sad conversation. I thought they would be a fun couple, but not really. Maybe they will fix that in ep 12, but I don't think that a single episode can change how I felt since ep 7.
Well ... what else?
I think I'm now as tired as Krist is looking since ep 10. They should have ended it earlier, give us a special Our Sky episode and everything is fine, but I guess I'm the only one who thinks sometimes less is more.
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The realest shit I have ever seen
First two episodes were the best stuff I have ever seen in my six years long BL watching career, lol. The chemistry is through the roof. Boun and Prem are both attractive individually and as a couple. Boun is beautiful and hot. Prem is cute and - who would have guessed? - pretty alluring. They both gained popularity as a side couple where they didn't have much story like Korn and Knock in Bad Romance or Tin and Can in Love By Chance. I thought this series would be a failure like Love By Chance 2. I was sure they wouldn't be able to step up their romance game and show us some decent love making scenes. Despite their dazzling chemistry they were holding back in intimate scenes. But boy, was I wrong! They outperformed themselves in those two episodes. Especially Prem is showing us a side of him I didn't even knew he had. No wonder they remind me of Max and Tul. Whatever expectations people had for this series - THEY DELIVERED! This is not about some hot kissing or naked bodies. This is about the emotions, the lust, the sexiness, the longing, the trust, their personalities, how they connect with each other - it's unbelievable good. The best. The good film making and fitting music is also a reason for those scenes being so great. I don't know how they are supposed to top that in the upcoming episodes. From here on it can only go downhill. I don't believe they can keep up the quality until the end. In the best case they can manage for five more or so episodes.Still, let us give credit where credit is due. THEY DID WELL.
Even if this series goes downhill, I won't change my rating. They impressed me too much with those two episodes and their intimate scenes. And yes, I have seen KinnPorsche, Love In The Air, TharnType, Together With Me etc. But those two are on a different level. Because this time everything works: good enough written characters, good actors who are comfortable with each other and have one of the best chemistries ever seen on screen, hot intimate scenes that feel very raw and real, no top/bottom stereotypes, no consent issues, good balance of humor and drama, good film making and good music, good enough side characters. The whole team surpassed itself.
I'm honestly surprised the internet ist not broken yet.
EDIT: I have never seen another BL series that started out THAT strong and went downhill THAT bad. This was obviously just a money grab. Nobody of the team involved wanted to create a good series, or they just lost motivation after the first episodes. I have to lower my rating, because such a high rating is unfair towards other (much better) series, but I will still keep it high. Because the first 3 episodes were great and are worth watching and rewatching. But don't bother watching the rest.
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