High School King of Savvy

High School King of Savvy 

7/10

High School King of Savvy

Genre:                                   Episodes: 17                         Year: 2014

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Lee Min Suk is a high school student who is good at nothing except ice hockey. On the day his highly successful brother is due to come home, Min Suk gets a mysterious phone call from him saying he won’t be able to return. He convinces Min Suk to go to work and pretend to be him, as the brothers look almost identical, and Min Suk finds himself trapped trying to balance ice hockey and pretending to be a corporate director.

Cast:

Seo In Guk (Lee Min Suk/Lee Hyung Suk)

Lee Ha Na (Jung Soo Young)

Lee Soo Hyuk (Yoo Jin Woo)

Lee Yeol Eum (Jung Yoo Ah)

Jo Han Chul (Kim Chang Soo)

Oh Kwang Rok (Choi Jang Ho)

General Thoughts:

It’s not my favourite drama in the world, but it’s enjoyable enough. The writers really owe a lot to Seo In Guk’s portrayal of their character, because he did a splendid job as our hero. He was charming and funny, and was just so entertaining to watch- he does the best angry/disbelief stutter-rants I’ve ever seen. And any scene with him swearing was just hilarious.

Seo In Guk is the king of youthful hilarity

On the other hand, I actually think Lee Ha Na made her character seem worse than she was written. I can see how she was going for a quirky individual character, but I almost would have preferred a stock-standard Candy heroine- as I just flat-out didn’t like Lee Ha Na’s interpretation of the character. Rather than sweetly naive and clumsy, I found Soo Young more stupid and sloppy- which aren’t really traits I like in my characters.

Doesn't make much of an impression

I found Min Suk so appealing and Soo Young so not that it took a while for me to warm up to her character at all. I enjoyed the main romance purely because Min Suk was so into it, and anything Min Suk was into I rooted for because I loved him so completely as a character. The story-line was a little odd in that not much happened, but the eccentricities of our characters allowed for the episodes to flow nicely without becoming boring. Min Suk’s interactions with everyone were either cute or funny (or both), so it was quite nice to just watch this loveable teen flounder in his beautifully confident way. The love-triangle was never really a real thing for me, as I could honestly not root for Jin Woo at all. It wasn’t just due to my Min Suk love (because he could do better than Soo Young anyway), but Jin Woo was just such a wanker at the start of the series. And I don’t just mean he was kind of an asshole, but some of his actions were borderline sexual harassment. Sure, if you make a character hit rock bottom there’s nowhere to go but up- but I was a tad uncomfortable any time Soo Young was alone with him after his very creepy, almost rapey attitude in the carpark when he forced himself all over her. Of course, this also did little for our heroine as when she knowingly met Jin Woo alone she just seemed so incredibly stupid. Like, how has this woman lived as an adult for 10 years?

Just let him hit him once

Apart from his brief slip into creepy territory, Jin Woo had a nice progression throughout the story. Lee Soo Hyuk acted him brilliantly, so most of the time he was understandable even if you didn’t agree with him. Lee Soo Hyuk acted Jin Woo with an air of vulnerability that made it easy to sympathise with him. It was nice how Jin Woo and Min Suk became friends in the end, and do wish we’d had a bit more of that sprinkled throughout the show. I wasn’t super crazy about Jin Woo getting a girl in the final hour either, as I felt it was much more important he had a solid, loyal, supportive friend like Min Suk than a cute girl he didn’t know. But alas, K-Dramas tend to like tying up every single loose end there is, even if it doesn’t hurt to leave some ends untied. The Noona Romance was very cute (all because of Seo In Guk), and as with all Noona Romacnes, we get our dose of complete and utter angst.

What to do? He's sooooo cute, but he's sooooo young

I actually really liked the way the angst was handled here, as it played out in a natural way. Soo Young has to come to terms with the fact that the guy she loves is 10 years younger. There’s no magic spell that can fix this problem because it’s a problem that can’t be fixed.

Whatever makes our Min Sukie happy

It’s part of what makes Noona Romances so entertaining- it’s not so much a ‘will they?’ but a ‘how will they?’. While I did find the marriage a bit of a cop-out, I was at least happy that the writers didn’t solve the issue with a time skip so that Min Suk was older and thus the relationship more acceptable. The wedding itself was kinda on the tacky side, and it doesn’t actually solve any of their problems- Min Suk is still in high school, he still doesn’t have a job or money, and he’s still going to get embarrassed in front of Soo Young’s friends. But it's still better than the dreaded 1-5 years of needless separation. Most of the time I found the writing to be on the better side of okay, but there were instances (such as the rushed wedding) that felt pretty weak. Most of the characters were really fun, and their world mixed with the gimmick of Min Suk pretending to be his brother was hilarious, but sometimes there were just situations or dialogue that didn’t feel natural at all. I also didn’t feel it was strictly necessary to take hockey away from Min Suk in the end either. While it was horrifically sad the first time it happened, it was less so the next time, if only for the fact that we’d been there before. It seemed like the only reason Min Suk couldn’t play hockey was that they wanted him to end up in the business world where he’d been pretending to be all along, and I wasn’t super crazy about that. I guess you could view it as Min Suk growing up, but I kind of wanted our ice-hockey boy to…well…play hockey.

Why did you have to kill his dreams, show?

What Was Great:

Seo In Guk:

Seo In Guk is the star of this show. There was never a single moment that I didn’t like the character of Min Suk, and Seo In Guk filled him with such life and personality. He let his comedy come easily and just completely nailed the role of a young man brimming with unwarranted confidence thrown into a world of adults.

Can Seo In Guk just not age so he can be in every youth drama ever? Please?

Although much of Min Suk’s character was based around humour, he never felt gimmicky or unnatural. Seo In Guk always ensured that there was a base of genuine emotion for the humour to work around that gave Min Suk an extremely genuine and humane quality. While Min Suk was childish in many ways, I appreciated that the show didn’t portray this in a negative light. While there were downsides to being romantically involved with someone that young, the show did still point out that many adults lose something important as we transition into the ‘real’ world. Next to the company men that were so jaded and so desperate to get ahead, Min Suk was like a breath of fresh air. I also appreciated that the drama kept those traits about Min Suk even after the time skip. He was still confident and fun, just a little less naive. Seo In Guk also did a great job in portraying the two different brothers. While Hyung Suk didn’t get a lot of screen time, he still felt like a real and distinct character- one that was entirely different from Min Suk. I don’t think this drama could have been half as good as it is without Seo In Guk behind our youthful, loveable hero (and his brother).

Let Min Suk have everything cuz he's the best

Extended Cast:

The supporting cast added a lot to the drama. While they weren’t necessarily important to the story, they were essential elements in making the drama something you could invest in emotionally.

This family could never have too much screen-time

All the characters felt like they led their own lives offscreen whether they were company employees, high school students or family members. The high school kids were mostly there for laughs, but did provide a nice dose of heart every now and then. While I wouldn’t call myself a fan of Yoo Ah (I dislike pushy people/characters), I did find her growth interesting to watch. The company workers were similar in that they were mostly there to react to situations, but they were given enough personality and just enough time on screen to solidify that these could be real, functional adults just going about their working lives. The characters that really snagged my heart were Dad and Grandad. They were both so cute, and were essential as characters that shaped our loveable hero into who he was. Much of the emotion and heart of the series came from Min Suk’s interactions with his family, and any scene with Grandpa was lovely to watch- even if some were sad, they hurt in just the right ways.

What Wasn’t:

Almost Too Much In Guk Love:

The best thing about this drama by far is Seo In Guk. However, I will admit that this hurt the show a little as well. The only other people I felt were on Seo In Guk’s acting level were Oh Kwang Rok (Min Suk’s father) and Lee Soo Hyuk. Not our heroine. Because Seo In Guk dazzled so much brighter than everyone else, it was extremely easy to latch onto him as a character.

I want what our hero wants

Not only was he so wonderfully likeable, but we were seeing the new world of Comfo through this young man’s eyes. Min Suk was easy to connect with and relate to and became a completely brilliant character. However this complete character adoration can have a downside when the other half of the romance isn’t up to scratch.

Maybe you could, I dunno, talk to him sometimes

Seo In Guk was much more dynamic, interesting and likeable than Lee Ha Na, which unfortunately for Lee Ha Na meant that I didn’t connect with her character at all. Whatever was going on in the story, I was 100% on Team Min Suk. If Min Suk was mad at someone- so was I. If Min Suk was sad about something- so was I. Every emotion our hero felt I felt as well, which is a wonderful thing 95% of the time. But when the show is trying to create angst and tension between the two leads, I didn’t feel the heartbreak intended, because I only liked Min Suk and only really cared about the way he saw things. I only really cared for Soo Young when Min Suk did, so when the two had fights I didn’t think ‘oh no, poor couple, Min Suk didn’t understand’, I thought ‘oh no, damn Soo Young, she should have communicated properly’. It was a mix of pure love for the character Seo In Guk gave us and constant terrible communication from Soo Young that led to a little piece of dissatisfaction in the love-line.

Where’s BroBro?:

One of the more interesting plot points of the show is Min Suk’s brother. I mean, he’s the whole point there even is a show as he’s the reason behind the main gimmick- Hyung Suk can’t go to work so Min Suk goes in his place. It’s an interesting set-up with a lot of mystery surrounding Hyung Suk.

Where you at? What you do? Why you do it?

I was a bit disappointed when the whole fiasco was part of some rather poorly constructed revenge plot (his whole revenge was based around his un-studious teenage brother not being discovered impersonating a highly educated, successful businessman). I understand that it would have been difficult to do much with Min Suk and Hyung Suk together as Seo In Guk played both roles, but I found the wrap-up for main plot rather quick and not all that satisfying.

I could've watched a couple more episodes of this

Hyung Suk has spent months, maybe even years constructing this revenge, then Gramps dies so he stops and goes back to Germany. I would have really appreciated if the show had got onto the revenge-story a little earlier so that we had time to flesh it out and give it more depth. As it was, we learned about the death of the boys’ biological father at the same time as we learnt of the revenge plot, so it lacked impact because we were too invested in the Comfo employees. I would have loved to explore more dynamics between the brothers and how they became two very different people, and how they could help and understand each other, but it never really came. Even the reconciliation after Hyung Suk stopped his revenge was pretty light and unsubstantial. There’s a text message and they wave at the airport. Like, c’mon, where’s the emotion in that?

Re-watch?

Nope. Seo In Guk was spectacular and the Noona Romance was sweet at times, but it’s a one-time-only sort of show for me.

I came, I saw

Lucky Romance

Lucky Romance

7/10

Lucky Romance

Genre:                             Episodes: 16                          Year: 2016

Romance 

Comedy

Synopsis:

After the death of her parents and an accident that places her little sister in a comatose state, Shim Bo Nui believes she is a symbol of bad luck that will bring misfortune and suffering to those around her. She relies heavily on superstition and the predictions of a fortune teller. As her sister’s health deteriorates, Shim Bo Nui’s Shaman tells her that the only way to save her sister is to spend one night with a man born in the year of the tiger. The only tiger Bo Nui is able to find is Je Soo Ho, a genius game developer who cares little for interpersonal relationships and shuts himself away from the world.

Cast:

Hwang Jung Eum (Shim Bo Nui)

Ryu Joon Yoel (Je Soo Ho)

Lee Soo Hyuk (Gary Choi)

Lee Chung Ah (Amy Han)

Jung Sang Hoon (Han Ryang Ha)

Lee Cho Hee (Lee Dal Nim)

Na Young Hee (Yang Hee Ae)

General Thoughts:

It’s a remarkably interesting drama given its complete and utter lack of plot. I don’t jest. There’s none. The quirky catch that Bo Nui must sleep with a man born in the year of the tiger is abandoned after the first couple of episodes, used only as a tool to have our main leads actually interact with one another. 

Because they didn't actually need to  sleep sleep together

Rather than the drama being a story of a woman embarking on a bizarre quest to save her sister, it becomes the story of a young man who learns how to love and connect with the world around him. Which is pretty darn cute. 

I could watch that all day long. Which I did. Several times.

I went in expecting the drama to be all about Bo Nui wooing Soo Ho and all the hilarious situations that would be results of her attempts, and the gradual realisation that she was actually falling for the man for real- much like ‘Oh My Ghostess’. Instead, what I got was Soo Ho falling hard and adorably fast and having to try to convince Bo Nui that she deserved happiness for herself. Happiness of course equalling Soo Ho. And surprisingly I wasn’t disappointed at the turn this drama took. I’m very used to Hwang Jung Eum being the main lead of a series, with heroes often taking a backseat. It was refreshing to have our hero being the one who was making all the moves and being the star of he show. Which he totally was. Because after Soo Ho fell into his complete love for Bo Nui, Ryu Joon Yeol just let loose. His acting was phenomenal and wonderfully believable- even as his character shifted between detached, mathematical genius, and adorable puppy in love. These shifts in character were acted out so seamlessly that it never seemed out of character when Soo Ho was excited or giddy or acting completely like a high school kid in love- because Ryu Joon Yeol had always been able to express the way Soo Ho kept that detachment and isolation as a front, and a protection for himself to prevent getting hurt. But once you get past that front, he’s all cuddles and feelings and complete wonderfulness. 

So snoodley 

As for Hwang Jung Eum…well it wasn’t her best performance ever. And that’s through no fault of her own. Shim Bo Nui was just not a character that developed very much, and it’s hard to stay connected to a character that refuses to change in even the slightest, even when their situation changes. 

Hard to dislike her when she makes our hero act so cute

All Bo Nui’s development happened off-screen during the time skip (to which- ugh), and she only seemed all the more immobile when you had Soo Ho doing such a fantastic job of adapting and opening up beside her. Points do go to Hwang Jung Eum for making Bo Nui at least a likeable character. On paper our heroine doesn’t look all that great- a superstitious woman who thinks everyone she comes in contact with will suffer misfortune and never seeks out her own happiness. Yeah, doesn’t sound like a super fun heroine, does it? And yet, through Hwang Jung Eum’s performance and the early focus on Bo Nui, we see her vulnerability and the circumstances that led her to this point. While the script gives us insight into Bo Nui’s situation, Hwang Jung Eum shows a saddened, valuable character, and you truly do want her to find happiness for herself. But as the drama progresses, f*cks given for Bo Nui decrease, because Soo Ho is awesome and Soo Ho is wonderful and if your superstitions are getting in the way of beloved Soo Ho’s happiness, then up yours. Moving on to side characters- there’s really not a lot to say. Lee Soo Hyuk and Lee Chung Ah were cast as typical secondary characters. 

Guess how many f*cks I give. I'll give you a hint- it's not a lot.

Side male who loves our heroine and pushes his feelings on her even if she has less than zero interest. Only enough character to see that he’s a likeable dude, but not too likeable that you feel all torn up when he’s kicked to the curb for our very likeable hero. Side female who’s basically a b*tch and will do anything to win the love of our hero. Given a half-assed redemption at the end that’s only deemed passable as she’s not always a total b*tch. Then there’s Dal Nim and Ryang Ha who are given to us for the laughs- which is just as well because there’s not a lot of laughs coming from anywhere else, apart from Soo Ho’s complete inability to hide his feelings. 

And OMG the bromance was top stuff

Because when the melo kicks in between our main couple (as it inevitably does), it kicks hard. And in all too predictable ways. The plot was really nothing more than how adorable can Ryu Joon Yeol be? And how can we have this make the slightest bit of sense in the minimal story we’ve actually set up?

What Was Great:

Ryu Joon Yeol as Soo Ho:

I want one

Show carrier for sure. Who cares about the heroine’s struggles with her perception of herself? Who cares about Gary or Amy or any of the other characters we’re mildly introduced to? Who cares about building and releasing some game? Who cares about some guy hacking said game? No one. Because Soo Ho is all we really want to watch. Because we love our tin-man. And tin-man goes on a journey to discover his heart and finds a girl to give it to along the way. And he does it in the cutest way imaginable. 

It Was Cute:

Much of the cute came from Ryu Joon Yeol. In whatever scene he was in he was able to give us happy, warm, fuzzy feelings. Whether he was jumping in excitement from one text, trying to find an outfit to wear on his date, or gossiping about love with Ryang Ah like high school girls, he always did it in the best way possible. The relationship between our two leads was adorable in every way and perfectly captured that honeymoon phase of dating. Sure, there wasn’t a lot of story movement, but there’s something weirdly enjoyable about watching two cute people be so happy and in love. 

I really, really want one

What Wasn’t:

That Melo:

It’s not hardcore melo- it’s your typical rom-com melo. Melo that’s caused by people being idiots and melo that can only be healed by the gradual passing of time (which of course we don’t get to see). 

Noble Idiot in 3...2...1...

From about the half-way point you can see the Noble Idiocy coming. You can see it from a mile off. You can see it from China. You can see it all the way down here is Aus. There is no way that this series was going to end without our heroine f*cking off into the void and breaking our tin-man’s newfound heart. Ohhhhmygod lame. While it probably is one of the most justifiable uses of the Noble Idiot Disappearance, this plot device has just become so ridiculously overused that everyone can see it coming, and we’ve all watched in a million times before. Sure, it’s understandable that Bo Nui bolts at the first sign of trouble because you know what, a lot of real sh*tty things have happened around her in a short space of time and she has a d*uchey shaman telling her she is the root of all evil. But if you just up and leave right after our hero seriously injures himself while saving your life- probs not gonna like you. Especially if you leave him unconscious and bleeding in the street without taking him to a hospital. If the whole point of your vanishing is to save the man, you might want to check that the poor bugger isn’t actually dead already. Just sayin’. Then to follow the dreaded Noble Idiocy card we get the dreaded time skip. A year passes and magically Bo Nui has come to accept that she isn’t the cause of all death and destruction and she is allowed to be happy with a man she loves. 

More or less my reaction whenever I see that 'X Years Later' tag

How did she get to this healthy mental state? I wouldn’t be able to tell you because I didn’t see it happen. She just does. And then rejoins Soo Ho for a magical reunion of happy feelings and love and wonder and enchantment. Because obviously Soo Ho feels no hurt or resentment for being ditched for a whole year while Bo Nui sorts herself out on her own. That would be ridiculous. K-Drama once again shows us that a year is really nothing when faced with true love. Because while Bo Nui’s whole character can be entirely redeveloped over the course of a year, it’s inevitable that nothing will change in her relationship with Soo Ho. That would be silly.

That Plot:

The black hole in the series. There’s no ongoing plot besides the relationship development (which was adorable, thank goodness), and the game development- which no one actually cared about. 

No plot, but bags of cute

There was enough in the character development of Bo Nui that showed she was seriously willing to change from being a superstitious nut-job into someone who relies on herself and her partner, but that was swept under the rug as the writers opted for Noble Idiocy. Had the writers made more of an effort to make Bo Nui’s struggle feel more real to us, perhaps the drama could have been a little more engaging. Sure, Ryu Joon Yeol was engaging enough on his own- but imagine if you’d added a kick-ass heroine with the will to change, who painfully goes against years of instinct and steps outside her comfort zone. That would have been cool. The drama could have gradually doled out the steps Bo Nui took sever her reliance on superstition throughout the whole series (rather than in that one year we skipped over and didn’t get to see), and probably would have made for a much more substantial plot. Because the actual plot is weak as washing.

Please Kick Out Those Stupid Characters:

Shaman Goo Shin. Won Dae Hae. Two completely sucky characters that for some reason kept appearing on my screen. Goo Shin is basically the devil in Bo Nui’s ear- telling her she lame and that everything she touches will die. Yeah, what an ass. 

That guy sucks big time 

His motivations are totally unclear. Does he actually believe this to be true and is telling Bo Nui to protect the people around her? Or is he he telling her this so that she keeps returning to him for talismans and fortunes? 

This guy also sucks big time

I don’t really care either way, but I was waiting for some sort of comeuppance for the mean Shaman. He was the only real sort of villain we had as our hacker remained pretty anonymous and only impacted the release of the game, rather than our main characters the way Shaman did. But no- no big kick of karma for Shaman. Nothing like that. Then there’s Dae Hae. He is literally the reason why Bo Nui thinks she’s bad luck. Almost all recent bad things can be traced back to Dae Hae. Sure, he had nothing to do with Bo Nui’s parents’ deaths or her sister’s coma but he sure as hell was responsible for Daebak Soft going under. Oh yeah, he also let the hacker in to mess with Soo Ho’s game and destroy his career- the event that reignited Bo Nui’s doubt after she’d been learning to trust Soo Ho and not Shaman man. Again, no kick of karma for Dae Hae. No, he gets to join the team that reopens Daebak Soft and continues to work under Soo Ho. I’m not a superstitious person- but that dude is lazy and plain unreliable. He would have no such place on my team. Sadly, these two characters did manage to sap a bit of fun from the series, particularly when they managed to walk away from all the events unscathed.   

Re-watch?

Not a chance. I didn’t know that Ryu Joon Yeol could be that cute, and I’m super glad I found out. But I feel like if I watch the series again it’ll just make me painfully realise that ‘holy sh*t, nothing happens in this drama’.

So very, very cute