We Broke Up

We Broke Up

2.5/10

We Broke Up

Genre:                                Episodes: 10                             Year: 2015

Romance

Synopsis:

For three years, No Woo Ri and Ji Won Young have dated. They live in the same share house, but the situation becomes complicated when they break up. Due to the security deposit, neither can move out, so the two must continue living together.

Cast:

Sandara Park (No Woo Ri)

Kang Seung Yoon (Ji Won Young)

Jang Ki Yong (Seo Hyun Woo)

Kang Seung Hyun (Yoon Ni Na)

General Thoughts:

Well. That wasn’t good. I have to think that the huge popularity of Sandara Park and her enormous fan base is what made that web-drama so popular- because if we’re all honest, everything about it was pretty below-standard.

I'm so bored. So very, very bored.

As, much as I like Sandara Park and think she’s adorable, I don’t think her acting is all that good. Though it sure didn’t help that the character of Woo Ri was either acting like a five year old, or a retarded puppy. There was no part of me that bought that these characters were supposed to be functioning adults, because they were fairly stupid, and slaves to their emotions.

The acting...uh...wasn't good

All the characters were so one-dimensional that they seemed as though they could only feel or think one thing at a time. Kang Seung Hyun also didn’t really cut it as an actress. While she wasn’t downright terrible, she does tend to have a rather unexpressive face, and just like the rest of the characters in this show, her character of Ni Na was written without any depth or development, which probably didn’t help. The boys did a little bit better than the girls at acting, but still never quite sold their (horribly written) characters. Kang Seung Yoon did pretty well as the stroppy wannabe-star, and his voice is nice to listen to, but his character was never that likeable. Won Young came across selfish and temperamental- ready to blow his top at the drop of a hat. The character I liked most was probably Hyun Woo, because he was nice and caring, and a bit of a dork. Sure, he was a little bit bland, but he seemed sweet enough, and Jang Ki Yong acted him with a bit of sincerity which was nice to see. There were times when Hyun Woo seemed to act completely out of character, but again that’s the fault of the way the character was written, and nothing to do with the acting.

They broke up because she stopped walking?

Nothing happens in the plot. Woo Ri and Won Young broke up and we don’t really know why, and the small hint of a reason we’re given really doesn’t explain why they were so hostile towards each other.

I'm going to trail around after you forever because I'm an adult 

Likewise, the glimpses of their very juvenile romance that we saw didn’t really show anything that would prevent these people from moving on. In all honesty, it felt like Won Young was still very much a child- clinging to his dream of becoming a musician, but unwilling to compromise or work with anyone to achieve that dream, then kicking and screaming when it didn't work out. Hyun Woo’s more of an adult, seeming to have a mild amount of competence, and not yelling at people in every second scene. Due to this immaturity vs. maturity vibe going on with the boys, it felt like Woo Ri took a big step back in her life at the end of the series. Hyun Woo has helped her get an adult job, and helped her complete her tasks at said job. Won Young has taken her for granted, and has had her run around trying to promote him and his band. So, instead of growing up and moving past the failed relationship, Woo Ri quits her job because it’s ‘too hard’, and goes back to exactly where she was three years ago. So basically, there is no point to this show. None. At all.

What Was Great:

It Was Short:

The best thing about this drama was the very small amount of time it took to watch. It wasn’t all horrible, and there were some cute moments between Woo Ri and Hyun Woo. To be fair, it wasn’t obvious whether Woo Ri and Won Young would get back together or not, and that did make me (sort of) want to see how it ended. 

Short, a little sweet, and...did it have a point?

What Wasn’t:

It Was Bad:

All in all, the drama’s just not good. The acting is fairly poor, the plot is non-existent, and the characters are all either pretty bland (Hyun Woo and Ni Na) or pretty stupid (Woo Ri and Won Young). The writing is definitely the main reason behind why the show was so bad. The writers had no idea how to convert a webtoon into a drama series that didn’t make all it’s characters seem like childish cartoons. They also apparently had no idea how to create a story with any sort of forward momentum.

We ForNEVER

Sound:

I’ve never before seen a drama were the sounds annoyed me so much. They were terrible. The sound director of this drama better start looking for alternate career opportunities.

How can a drama all about music have such sh*t sound?

Sometimes the background sounds cut out completely for an ‘intense’ moment (like Ni Na kissing Won Young’s cheek), but instead of adding heightened tension to the moment, it just seemed like they forgot to add in the background sound, or just took out all the sound because there was some random loud noise that they didn’t want sneaking into the drama. Sometimes the voices of our characters were too soft, and sometimes they were almost a bit too loud and clear- and it was super obvious that the dialogue had been recorded in a studio and then placed over the top of the video track. There were also times that the background noise just wasn’t loud enough. Sure, it’s great to hear what our characters are saying, but that sounds like the most boring, lame-ass party in the background with the extras chanting ‘masyeora, masyeora’ as quietly as they possibly could to not drown out the dialogue. It did not create a party atmosphere. Also, it annoyed me to no end when we would start out having Kang Seung Yoon singing live on set and then switch to the studio-recorded version of the song. Just pick one or the other. Jeez.

Re-watch?

Good God no.

I'm breaking up with this drama