Anthology

Anthology

4.5/10

Anthology

Genre:                                                   Episodes: 1                                    Year: 2018

Romance

Melodrama

Synopsis:

After rediscovering an anthology she made with her first love, Shin So Yi thinks back on her life as a seventeen-year old.

Cast:

Shin Eun Soo (Shin So Yi)

One (Jin Hyun)

General Thoughts:

I kind of don’t know where I sit with this one. Or I do, I’m just kind of unsure why I sit here. I just wasn’t really a fan of this show. Despite being pretty similar to the last drama special I watched (‘Chief B and the Love Letter’), I didn’t find myself enjoying this one as much.

I think 80% of my interest in this drama came from One

I guess when it comes to melancholic melodramas I prefer them to be centred around adult characters. When it comes to high school and first love, I suppose I want a bit more cute and a bit more hope. The plot wasn’t all that bad, but don’t think it achieved quite what it set out to achieve.

So very, very handsome

Again, I do realise that it’s extremely hard to make a compelling story in only 60 minutes, and while I thought that the two main characters were interesting and realistic, I found myself wondering what story the writer was trying to tell. Shin Eun Soo and One both did an excellent job at bringing their characters to life, and really sold their teenage emotions well. I’ve thought One has been a promising upcoming actor since he blew me away with his smaller role in ‘Hwayugi’, and I’m excited to see him in another production and hope he keeps growing steadily as an actor. Shin Eun Soo is a fairly new face, but I thought she was promising as well. Despite the character of So Yi not being particularly difficult, the whole show did essentially centre around this character, so Shin Eun Soo did a pretty good job of balancing the drama on her own. As So Yi had some pretty dislikable traits (that are common to most teenagers), such as her selfishness and snarkiness, Shin Eun Soo did well at expressing how those traits came from a place of hurt and vulnerability, and earned a good deal of sympathy for the character. The two young actors had some cute chemistry that suited the first-love vibe.

They were cute together considering that she's 16 and he's 24

They really felt like two high school kids who had come to depend on each other, so I was a little shocked that One is actually around 8 years older than her. I think it’s a credit to both actors that whatever their ages, they simply felt like two high school kids. 

What Was Great:

Emotions:

I do enjoy it when shows have a nostalgic vibe, and obviously being centred around first love, this show was definitely heavy on the nostalgia. Not only was it the idea of your first pain, first love, first regret, but the choice to set the story in a country town helped that feeling along.

Nothing quite like a good dose of teenage angst

Country life and childhood both seem to be reminiscent of a simpler, friendlier time, so the country setting worked much better at evoking these emotions than if the story had been set in Seoul or another city. The emotions of the two teenagers were relatable and understandable, and your heart hurt for these characters who were struggling. 

What Wasn’t:

Pointless:

Despite the emotions of the drama being simple and relatable, the show still felt like it had missed the point. Because while I understood the characters and their struggles, I didn’t understand whatever point the show was trying to pull from the typical teenage struggle.

Just cuz life turned out okay for you, doesn't mean it will for everyone

Perhaps I would have enjoyed the show more if I was still in the throws of adolescent turmoil myself, but alas I am already an adult (sort of). The message of the show seemed to be that despite all the pain of adolescence things will pull together and work out in the end. But I mean, most people have this trouble phase in their teenage years and most pull through okay, so I don’t really see how this is an inspirational message. Perhaps teenagers watching will think that as they get older they’ll look back on their struggles fondly as they came through okay, so maybe younger people would enjoy this story more, but for me it all seemed a bit pointless. I mean, we don’t even know if things worked out okay for Jin Hyun or not- we never heard from him again. For all we know he didn’t pull through and have a simple, happy life afterwards. So then that whole message is a moot point anyway. I don’t know, maybe I’m just thinking too much into it all.

Recommend?

No- it’s okay but it’s not all that special.

I also still have no idea what an anthology actually is