Somehow 18

Somehow 18

4/10

Somehow 18

Genre:                                                 Episodes: 10                                          Year: 2017

Romance

Synopsis:

Oh Kyung Hwi was bullied throughout high school. He was saved by a young girl, Han Na Bi, who made him want to live. Many years later, Kyung Hwi can’t forget Na Bi or forgive himself for her suicide. He travels back in time to save her.

Cast:

Minho (Oh Kyung Hwi)

Lee Yoo Bi (Han Na Bi)

Kim Bo Mi (Oh Yi Do)

Kim Hee Chan (Jang Seul Ki)

Yoo Joon Hong (Ma Ki Ho)

General Thoughts:

Well, it’s okay. There’s really nothing in it that makes it stand out from other short series’ either in things that were really good or really bad. It sits pretty firmly in mediocre town, which I guess is a safe space for a web-drama to be.

Nothin' spesh

Minho’s acting has been steadily improving as time goes by, but I almost felt like this was a bit of a step back for him. It’s not that he was bad or anything, he just wasn’t as good as I know he can be. It could have been because the writing of his character wasn’t all that flash, but I just wasn’t too convinced about our hero.

Seeing him dressed dorky was pretty fun though

I mean, I know this is a small web-drama and all, but Kyung Hwi’s character felt super childish. He’s supposed to be a grown ass adult going back into his 18 year old body, but it felt more like he went back to being 18 mentally as well. He didn’t feel any smarter or wiser or older than Na Bi at all. But I guess once you get over the fact that the hero’s pretty immature he’s pretty sweet and likeable. Na Bi was interesting for the first half of the show’s run while she was still a bit of an enigma and we were all trying to figure out why she would commit suicide, but once the reasoning came out, she kind of reverted into a permanently sad, mopey character, and we didn’t really get too her bolshy, sassy self that we were introduced to at the show’s start. There’s a right way to show a character struggling with survivor’s guilt, but I don’t really think this was the way to go about it. Rather than really expressing feelings of guilt Na Bi only ever came across as sad. I understood her sadness and in the context I understood her guilt, but the drama never really had those aspects come together in a cohesive way, and it was left more up to viewer interpretation. Which of course prevented me from really connecting to Na Bi as a character. She just felt a bit 2-D- particularly when at the beginning she had seemed so interesting and dynamic.

Snarky Na Bi was way more fun than sad Na Bi

The relationship between the two leads could be cute at times, but was also super predictable. The dynamics between the two of them were quite interesting and fun when Na Bi still had her spunk, but the relationship became less engaging as Na Bi started to become a damaged flower who could only lean on Kyung Hwi for support. I actually thought side character Seul Ki had more interesting development than either of the leads. His character was mostly there for a bit of comedic relief, but his dilemma about interacting with Kyung Hwi where the school bullies could see was an interesting one, and I will admit that I felt a little swell of pride for him when he finally stood up for himself (and Kyung Hwi) and took some of the bullies’ beatings for Kyung Hwi.

Yay for friendship

The visuals of the show itself were actually quite nice, and the drama made really good use of lighting and had some great camera shots. The soundtrack is nothing special but it was nice enough and suited the drama.

What Was Great:

Set Up:

The premise behind this drama were pretty good, and there were some smart moments in the show relating to the time-travel aspect.

Magical diary of magicy magic

The idea of a man going back in time to save his first love is pretty romantic, and brings up a few mysteries- how and why did this girl die? The time travel itself was handled nice and simply and worked well. The use of the diary to connect the two leads was a clever plot point, as not only did it serve to remind us that our hero came from the future, but also gives Kyung Hwi insight into Na Bi’s thoughts, which of course helps him figure out what was distressing her so much. The plot point of the same scenarios occurring no matter what was an interesting one as it suggests a sort of predetermined future- or a least that the past can't be drastically changed. Despite what does or doesn't happen, the same events will play out, just potentially with different people. It’s an idea that I haven't seen a lot on TV as time travel dramas tend to lean more towards the butterfly effect, with simple changes creating a drastically different future.

 10 years is kinda a long time to be in a coma...

As soon as this idea was brought in, I immediately thought that Kyung Hwi would end up sacrificing himself in some way to save Na Bi. Ultimately I’m glad he didn’t end up dying (cuz that would suck), but I was happy that the show stuck to its own science (sort of). 

What Wasn’t:

Saviour:

Despite how mediocre some of our characterisations were, the thing that miffed me off the most about the show was the way it went about saving Na Bi. I know that her being saved was kind of the whole point, but I still wish it had played out a little differently.

I don't really know what to feel about Na Bi as a character 

Suicide is a pretty heavy topic to be dealing with- particularly in a drama that has so little time to tell its story. I don’t mind shows finding humour in the concept- such as Kyung Hwi complete failure of an attempt, but I really dislike when shows approach the topic with a half assed attitude, which is kind of what ‘Somehow 18’ did. Kyung Hwi’s suicidal thoughts were handled really well and made a lot of sense. He was exhausted and tired of putting up with the ill treatment from his classmates all alone. It made sense that his suicidal thoughts would reduce once Na Bi came to the school as she was someone who reached out and interacted with him, and stood up to the bullies for his sake. However, Na Bi’s suicidal tendencies were handled less smoothly. Survivor’s guilt isn’t something that can have such a quick-fix the way Kyung Hwi’s loneliness did, because simply having someone reach out and be beside Na Bi doesn’t actually solve the root cause of her depression. Despite how many friends Na Bi makes that isn't going to erase the fact that her two closest friends died and she didn’t.

Might have helped if the show had made the whole dealio with the accident a little clearer

When the accident was brought in and it became clear that her survivor's guilt was previously the cause of her death, I was hoping the show would take more of a direction where Na Bi would learn to help herself. Instead the show chose to have Kyung Hwi ‘save’ Na Bi and become someone she could rely on.

I wanted Na Bi to deal with her sh*t rather than just get a boyfriend

Which is okay I guess, but it begs the question of how Na Bi will cope if Kyung Hwi isn’t around- because she’s never dealt with her issues, she’s only covered it up with the love she’s received from Kyung Hwi. This also made the ending a tad unbelievable. Na Bi has been suffering with survivor’s guilt over an accident that wasn’t even her fault, so I completely fail to see how she could have survived 10 years after Kyung Hwi pushed her out of the path of an oncoming car and literally died for her. It doesn’t make a lot of sense as to why the accident was so unbearable for her, and yet she’s so together then Kyung Hwi becomes comatose saving her. Was a letter claiming that Kyung Hwi was from the future really all it took? I would have much preferred if the series had shown how Na Bi was learning to love herself and coming to terms with the fact that her friends’ deaths weren’t her fault rather than glossing it over with Kyung Hwi paying attention to her and resulting in her living. It kind of pens the idea that people with depression need the help of a saviour or a significant other rather than actually dealing with their issues.

Recommend?

Nah not really. It tried a bit too hard to be a tear-jerker when it wasn't, so it just kinda ended up being not that funny and not that emotional.

Kind of picked a weird direction to go in