Sassy Go Go

Sassy Go Go

8.5/10

Sassy Go Go

Genre: Episodes: 12 Year: 2015

School

Romance

Synopsis:

After their street dance club is abolished, the bottom ranked students at Sevit High School are forced into a cheerleading club in order to create better credentials for the top students.

Cast:

Jung Eun Ji (Kang Yeon Doo)

Lee Won Geun (Kim Yeol)

Chae Soo Bin (Kwon Soo Ah)

Ji Soo (Seo Ha Joon)

Kim Ji Suk (Yang Tae Bum)

N (Ha Dong Jae)

Kim Min Ho (Min Hyo Shik)

Park Hae Mi (Choi Gyung Ran)

In Gyo Jin (Im Soo Yong)

Lee Mi Do (Nam Jung Ah)

General Thoughts:

This was such a fun little drama. I feel that advertising it as a cheerleading show is a bit of a lie though- I think they had about two scenes of it in the whole drama.

Fun, but definitely not the main draw of the show

I was in the mood for a drama that was light and happy, and while I thoroughly enjoyed his one, it is a tad meatier and a bit darker than it would lead you to believe. I always find that I enjoy dramas that are character focused rather than purely plot driven-

I love Jang Eun Ji playing high school heroines

as it’s easier to overlook lulls in momentum or small plot holes when you’re so invested in the characters, their reactions and their relationships. ‘Sassy’ was definitely a drama that was character driven, and it had a whole world of beautifully developed characters to hold our attention while the story was unveiled. I honestly thought that this was one of the most perfectly cast dramas I’ve seen in a good long while. Good casting isn’t just about who the better actor is (as I’d argue that the second leads were probably the better actors in this equation), but it’s about how well the characters match the actor, and the actors’ chemistry with each other. Despite not being as objectively good at acting as Chae Soo Bin, I absolutely adored Jung Eun Ji as our heroine. She has a beautifully innocent energy that makes her perfect for high school roles. She played a similar character here to her character in ‘Reply 1997’ and it suit her to a tee. Jung Eun Ji has such a magical draw to her that makes you want to know her, which suited the character Yeon Doo perfectly. Her innocence and mischievousness mixed together to give us a character that was flirtatious but unprovocative.

She's so bubbly and fun- I just adore her

 I feel like I’ve been stalking Lee Won Geun with my drama watching lately (‘Mystery Queen’, ‘Jugglers’), and I’m not mad about it at all.

Oh my Geun

That boy is delightful. Again, he suited his character excellently. His sweet face and playful nature downplayed his character’s arrogance and made him seem up himself, but not unapproachable. And boy did he have good chemistry with Jung Eun Ji. The two had a lighthearted, flirty chemistry that matched well with their teenage characters. Ji Soo was an obvious choice for the marshmallow with a tough exterior. Why would you go for anyone else? While his character’s story was heartbreaking all on its own, Ji Soo has a way of really making viewers’ hearts bleed. Especially when he’s playing a high school kid. Chae Soo Bin has only come on my radar quite recently despite being in quite a few big name dramas. ‘Sassy’ was one of her earlier works, but boy she is just as good here as she has been in her newer dramas. Soo Ah was one of the most hateful characters I’ve ever come across in K-Dramaland, and yet Chae Soo Bin was able to maintain a level of pitifulness that made Soo Ah seem like an unfortunate character rather than a horrible one. Though she could be pretty horrible. 

She was fun to hate

While there were times (quite a few times) that I found myself wanting this nasty girl’s brutal downfall, towards the end Chae Soo Bin was able to pull me back from those feelings, and generated sympathy for her character.

This show's casting was just so spot on

Vixx’s N is someone I’m not sure of as an actor (I’ve only seen him in ‘Tunnel’ and his character was mostly just dead there), but he pulled a pretty respectable performance here. While nothing dynamic, he gave Dong Jae a cute naiveness when the character could have very easily come across as stupid. While there was a lot more in the character that could have been explored, the story tended to delegate Dong Jae to the sidelines. I do think it’s a pity that Dong Jae’s character didn’t get explored as much as he could have been, but I was also glad that N wasn't pushed out of his comfort zone. We got a sweet and happy character that was a nice break from some of the heavier moments in the drama. I always appreciate high school dramas that include one or two teachers as main characters, as I find it tends to elevate the show as a whole to a more mature level, and makes the drama more accessible to adults rather than simply catering to teens. Teacher Yang was a character that I really enjoyed watching, and was a character that really warmed your heart.

I am mildly in love with Teacher Yang. And by mildly I mean definitely.

His unwavering dedication to do what was best for the students was admirable and endearing, and he was the type of teacher that everyone wishes they had in school. Kim Ji Suk was delightful in character and he gave off a tremendous amount of warmth. Even before we knew just how invested he was in protecting his students and giving them a safe environment to grow in,

I am also in love with Kim Ji Suk

it was obvious that this was a man who truly cared for his students. Kim Ji Suk played the character with a great gentleness that never undermined his authority, and even in moments when his character was downtrodden he could always maintain a wonderful tenderness in his expressions that conveyed his love and dedication to the kids. It was a many layered character, and Kim Ji Suk did a marvellous job at peeling those layers back to expose more of what motivated Teacher Yang and the lengths he was willing to go to. One thing I noticed in particular is that he was very good at having warm and loving chemistry with the students without it coming across as creepy or inappropriate. Even throughout the sexual harassment scandal, Kim Ji Suk (and Jung Eun Ji also) showed a clear understanding of the boundaries of the teacher-student relationship. It was a relationship that was very close and extremely loving, but was very obviously parental, which was an important distinction to make.

Like happy parents watching over their kids

Teacher Yang’s arc to me is something that made ‘Sassy’ go from a entertaining school drama, to an entertaining drama without the school limitation. The drama didn’t downplay the importance of adults in children’s lives, and showed how important it is for kids to have at least one adult they can admire.

Instructor Nam don't take sh*t from no one

Instructor Nam had a similar role to Teacher Yang, but was less pronounced. Her addition in the story was refreshing due to her willingness to stand up to the controlling parents and teachers. While Teacher Yang was there to be a source of comfort, protection and love for the students, Instructor Nam was there to be a support to Teacher Yang and show that not everyone can be intimidated by money and power. One downside of this character is that the initial jokes made about her facial appearance were a bit distasteful- especially when Lee Mi Do isn’t exactly an unattractive woman. The writing of this drama was pretty brilliant, knowing exactly how to build situations and relationships. When you look back on the earlier episodes of the drama the issues faced were problematic, but not all that extreme. Our kids started with their club being unjustly disbanded, but as the story progressed, far deeper issues started to unfold such as bribery, parental pressure, and child abuse. Much more intense than kids struggling to get their dance club back. The way the relationships developed was also an extremely satisfying thing to watch.

These kids had the perfect level of flirty chemistry

Yeon Doo and Yeol had chemistry fairly early, but it was fun to see that chemistry go from antagonistic to flirtatious. Obviously Yeon Doo had a big effect on both Yeol and Ha Joon, as she showed them the benefits of loyal and loving friendship.

Cute lil' twinsies

I usually find characters like Yeon Doo a bit too perfectly good, but what made Yeon Doo stand out from other classically too-good-to-be-real heroines is that it was shown where Yeon Doo drew her strengths from. A heroine with a horrible family and terrible situation who is sugar and sunshine is always a bit unbelievable, but Yeon Doo’s loving and warm relationship with her Mum showed where Yeon Doo learned to be loyal, kind, compassionate, and also stand up against injustice. I always appreciated when the show commented on how Yeon Doo was similar to her Mum, as it gave cause for her to be the way she was. She wasn’t just an unbelievably sweet girl- these were values she had learned from her mother the same way Jin Ah learned that success was everything from hers. Due to her mother’s warm and loving upbringing, Yeon Doo was able to be a warm and loving presence in the more troubled kids’ lives, and it was wonderful to see that warmth spread from student to student, as each of them impacted each other. 

What Was Great:

The Kids:

The characters are definitely the draw in this drama. There was something just so inherently entertaining about two groups of kids from opposite walks of life learning to trust and love each other.

High school dramas done well can be so rewarding and satisfying

The problems these kids faced never felt blown out of proportion, and it was always enjoyable to watch how they worked together to solve their issues- especially when their teamwork was originally so begrudging.

This friendship is so precious

Yeon Doo and Yeol are definitely the stars of the show- they’re both so cute and delightful, but have enough substance that they make the show more intellectually engaging rather than just pure, fluffy fun. Ha Joon was also a character that you couldn’t help but love, and I was endlessly glad that the love-triangle didn’t destroy the boys’ friendship the way it usually does. When the end of the drama came around, I was glad to see that Yeon Doo, Yeol and Ha Joon were all still close friends, and that they were able to laugh about the past situation. Ha Joon’s simple ‘if he cheats on you come to me' line made the ending completely satisfying as it showed that he was able to express his love and gratitude to Yeon Doo, but also move past his romantic feelings so that he could remain friends without any awkwardness. I liked that his friendship with Yeon Doo existed outside of his friendship with Yeol, as it made it plausible that he could return to just being friends. It made Ha Joon’s relationship with Yeon Doo that much more believable (and a little bit more heartbreaking) when the writers gave him a few scenes that are typically given to the lead- such as Ha Joon being the first to find and comfort Yeon Doo when she was lost.

Two years later and we're still waiting for Ji Soo to star in his own romance drama

All the different relationships between the kids were unique and entertaining, and made for a very addictive show. Even the characters with smaller roles felt like very fleshed out characters with their own insecurities and issues, and no one felt like one-dimensional classmate characters that most high school dramas tend to have. 

What Wasn’t:

Saving Soo Ah:

Look it’s not like I totally hated the idea of Soo Ah getting a redemption arc (people’s lives aren’t decided in high school after all), but I wasn’t completely sold on it.

All those sympathetic scenes defiantly means redemption

What softened the blow a bit was that it was insanely obvious that Soo Ah was getting a redemption- it didn’t come as a smack out of the blue. Although I was a little miffed to think that this horrible girl was going to get forgiven, the show did give me a long time to come to terms with it. Yeon Doo’s complete and utter unwillingness to cut Soo Ah out of her life (annoying as that could be) was a big redemption arc flag. The occasional shows of sympathy or pity coming from other students pretty much guaranteed that our final plot move would be to bring Soo Ah into the circle of friends. The biggest alert that this was coming was how frequently we were shown the pressures coming from Soo Ah’s Mum, and her totally twisted ideology that she was passing onto her child. What I didn’t love about this redemption is that I’m not quite sure Soo Ah deserved it. Yeah, yeah, I know that forgiveness isn’t something you earn or deserve, I just didn’t buy Soo Ah’s switch up. All drama long Soo Ah has been doing horrible, horrible things. I mean, she used Ha Joon’s self-harm as blackmail in order to get her own way.

This is not a situation you try and use for your own benefit

Even when she knew that revealing this fact would put Ha Joon in a precarious situation with his physically abusive father. Like, dog move man. There was really no saving her in my books after that. And all series long Soo Ah felt no remorse for her actions.

I'd be more on board if she'd sown a bit more remorse

The only time we see her freaking out and cracking under the pressure, it’s because she’s scared she’s going to get caught. In the moment, Soo Ah has no qualms with pushing someone under the bus, and she’s completely unfazed in the aftermath until it looks like someone is catching on to her. In my mind, Soo Ah never really regretted her awful and destructive (and often potentially dangerous) actions, she only regretted getting found out. Which for me made her sudden remorse and love for her classmates feel…well…a tad unbelievable. It wasn’t the redemption as a whole I was against- I liked the idea of Soo Ah getting a second chance and learning what friendship is about- and I certainly didn’t want her to be driven to suicide, I just wished the show had presented her as a bit more conflicted about her actions- not just freaking out over the consequences of those actions. One thing I am glad of is that Soo Ah’s mother didn’t get a redemption. Her daughter’s attempt at suicide changed nothing in her, and that matched pretty well with how her character had been constructed. 

Your Mum is a Grade A psycho, but that still doesn't excuse your actions

Parent Love-Line:

Interesting side story as it was, it was still one I think this drama could have done with out. While I appreciated the extra screen time for Yeon Doo’s Mum (as it also helped us get a better understanding of the environment that shaped Yeon Doo), I just didn’t think this particular plot point added much to the story.

Interesting plot point, but at this point all I'm interested in is seeing Yeol and Yeon Doo be happy together

It’s an interesting problem to look at for sure- what do you do when the man you want to marry turns out to be your daughter’s high school sweetheart’s father? It’s just that the timing didn’t exactly work here.

That's better

While the show was presenting this issue, it was also in the middle of Soo Ah’s redemption arc. Which took up way more screen time, thus delegating the parental love line to a rather small corner. The conclusion is also brushed under the rug while both couples continue dating. It’s casually thrown out that Yeol is trying to get his name switched to his Mum’s registry (which coming from a country without legal family registers means little to me anyway), and apparently that makes the whole situation a lot less weird. Apparently. To be honest, if they weren’t going to put in the time and effort to resolve an issue such as this one, I think I would have preferred if the show just didn’t even go there to begin with.

Recommend?

If you’re a fan of high school or youth dramas this is definitely one of the better ones around. I’d also recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good slice-of-life story with beautifully flawed characters.

Go go watch this drama

Jugglers

Jugglers

7/10

Jugglers

Genre:                                                   Episodes: 16                                    Year: 2018

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Jwa Yoon Yi works as a secretary and is dedicated to her job. After she is wrongfully accused of inappropriate behaviour, she is transferred to a new department with a new boss. Yoon Yi’s new boss, Nam Chi Won, is not interested in interpersonal relationships at work, and despises the fact that he now has a secretary. Chi Won wants to move back into the house he lived in as a child, and signs a rental agreement, even though Yoon Yi is the landlord’s daughter and lives on the first floor.

Cast:

Baek Jin Hee (Jwa Yoon Yi)

Daniel Choi (Nam Chi Won)

Kang Hye Jung (Wang Jung Ae)

Lee Won Geun (Hwangbo Yool)

Cha Joo Young (Ma Bo Na)

In Gyo Jin (Jo Sang Moo)

Jung Hye In (Park Kyung Rae)

Kim Chang Wan (Do Tae Geun)

Min Jin Woong (Woo Chang Soo)

Seo Eun Woo (Do Do Hee)

General Thoughts:

All in all ‘Jugglers’ is a fun little show that delivers exactly what it said it would- a simple, light-hearted office romance. There’s not really any high stakes, big betrayals, or dramatic reveals, but what the show does do, it does quite well.

Bring on the co-habitation hijinks

‘Jugglers’ takes on pretty standard rom-com trajectory with a pretty standard hate-to-love relationship at its core. There’s nothing revolutionary in the plot, but the drama takes a recipe that’s known to work well and flavours it with its own special details. While the main love-line was pretty common stuff (it was still cute though),

Growing together to make the office better

the show felt unique for its adorable second leads and its amusing, but not particularly threatening villains. The show was more about the developing relationship between its leads (and the second leads) and their small day-to-day victories than it was about some big obstacle to overcome. While that sounds almost a little plain and boring, sometimes it’s nice to watch a show that has no big, bad evil in it. There was enough story in Chi Won learning how to accept help from others and Yoon Yi learning how to give that help that there was no need to have some diabolical villain messing things up. Not to say that there weren’t any villains, as Yoon Yi’s first boss and Sang Moo could definitely be considered as such, but as they were mostly ineffectual and full of bluster rather than danger, it felt a little more low-key and natural. Thankfully office politics were kept out of the drama for the most part (because does anyone ever actually enjoy watching office politics?), and were only sprinkled through lightly when needed.

Do I care about office politics? Not. At. All.

There were hints of characters trying to get ahead of each other and use each other, but the majority of the drama focused on Chi Won and Yoon Yi simply trying to do their jobs well, regardless of what other people in the company were doing.

Sass and beautiful hands- he really is the whole package

Daniel Choi was just phenomenal as our leading man. In K-Dramaland I’ve seen bad-boy-sexy, cute-sexy, and sexy-sexy. I’ve seen dorky-cute and dorky-dorky, but I must say that I think Daniel Choi has delivered my first ever dorky-sexy. He started out pretty regularly dorky with his red pens and anti-social personality, but as his character started to care more and more about Yoon Yi and started stepping up to protect her, Daniel Choi really turned on his charms, yet still held onto his character's trademark dorkiness. I never knew a man quoting ‘One Piece’ in the middle of a verbal smackdown could be so steamy. Daniel Choi you are a complete magician. Unlike Chi Won, I found Yoon Yi a little harder to warm to. While Chi Won was dorky-sexy, Yoon Yi was kind of b*tchy-sweet. Which is a weird combo. I could see the character the writer was aiming for (something like Shin Min Ah in ‘Arang’ or Jeon Ji Hyun in ‘My Love from the Stars’)- sweet on the surface but with a sassy streak shown though disgruntled ramblings while others aren't listening.

I'm glad we got rid of that fake-ness real quick

Unfortunately with Yoon Yi I found that this dichotomy in her character felt more two-faced rather than funny and relatable. I thought this came from a teeny tiny weakness in Baek Jin Hee’s acting more so than a flaw in the way the character was written. Yoon Yi just felt a touch too sugar sweet when she had her secretary face on and a touch too arrogantly snarky behind the scenes. Her character became more balanced as the show progressed as we saw her working hard, doing her best, and most importantly falling for Chi Won.

This was one of the most awkward kisses I've ever seen- and I've seen a lot of awkward kisses

While I do think the leads fell in love rather rapidly, I didn’t mind too much that we whizzed through the initial crush stage, as it meant we got more of them being cute together and lost Yoon Yi’s few hints of nastiness.

I think I might actually be in love with you

Lee Won Geun completely stole my heart in this drama as the immature, naive, but insanely adorable boss. I’ve seen him in ‘Mystery Queen’ and boy does this man do puppy characters well. Usually I get bit bored when actors play the same character- but I am so on board for seeing more of Lee Won Geun’s beautifully innocent smiles. His relationship with Jung Ae was super sweet, and I adored how well they complimented each other. The lonely child in Yool needed someone to love him and take his side and look after him like a mother, and that’s exactly what Jung Ae did. Jung Ae herself needed someone she could help. After being dumped by her husband for his secret other family and always being cold-shouldered by her son, Jung Ae really needed to feel like she was making a difference and being useful to someone. Not only did the two help each other out in their work environment, but they both provided the steady emotional support that they’d been craving.

I know I'm in love with this story-line

While I was totally keen on the two characters having a romantic relationship, I could see how some viewers might find that a bit unnecessary, and to that end I'm okay with the series ending with Jung Ae and Yool having a very close friendship.

Protecting Yool's puppy heart

I’m free to imagine them realising they love each other and forming one big happy family, but those who don’t want to see that don’t have to. I’ve only known Kang Hye Jung as Haru’s Mum on ‘Return of Superman’, so I was pretty excited to see her act in something. I thought she did pretty well with not making Jung Ae seem to pathetic- which was a definite possibility going in. She gave Jung Ae just the right amount of pitifulness with just the right amount of backbone. While I thought a bit more development of the other office workers would have been nice, at the end of the day, I didn’t mind that we spent majority of our time with the four leads either. One thing I do wish the show had done was to make Kyung Rae a bit more involved in the story. We had these four friends, and Kyung Rae seemed like one of the more interesting ones, and yet it was her story that never got fleshed out. I wanted to know the hows and whys of her quitting being a secretary and to be honest, I just wanted more screen time for her.

Scene stealer of the year

Jung Hye In is pretty darn charismatic and I loved her pixie haircut so much that I’m dying for someone to make a cross-dressing K-Drama with her as the star. Please K-Drama gods? Pretty please?

What Was Great:

Nice and Cute:

Everything in this drama is pretty easy-breezy with a nice flurry of cuteness. Chi Won and Yoon Yi were so sweet when they were together, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciated their lack of noble idiocy.

I do enjoy a stress-free drama for when I'm feeling stressed

For a while there it seemed like every step in the story was trying to force one of the two into some form of noble idiocy- and yet they both managed to avoid this fate at every turn. Rather than separation for the sake of separation, Chi Won and Yoon Yi talked things through thoroughly and agreed on a course of action. Even when they weren't working in the same office or living in the same house,

There was even a bromance with bonus couple outfits

they remained a team and didn’t let anyone stand in the way of their relationship. Not only does that make for more sweet moments in the drama, but it also prevented me from becoming overly annoyed with either of the leads. They were always working to be better together and strived to move forwards without taking any great leaps backwards in their relationship. It was delightfully refreshing. Yool was of course insanely adorable all on his own and rapidly became my favourite character. There’s no one or two things about him that were wonderful- it was the combination of him paired with Lee Won Geun that was just magical. Another reason that this show was so sweet and fluffy is that the villains were given very moderate amounts of screen time. They were always present enough that they remained a source of tension, but I never felt like we were spending too much time with them. Why would we focus on the bad guys when there’s so much cute going on between the leads?

What Wasn’t:

Redemptions for All:

As a rather horrifically unforgiving person, I don’t tend to enjoy when K-Drama villains are given glowing redemption arcs. Especially when it feels like they’ve just been thrown in at the last minute.

What can I say- loving forgiveness just isn't my style

From the get go I knew that Bo Na was going to turn bad (girl just looks shady) and then change back onto Yoon Yi’s side. I was prepared for it, but I still didn’t love it when it came around. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was interesting on so many levels to have Bo Na betray Yoon Yi- all the jealousy was great.

They ruined it for themselves

It was the stupid ways the show tried to save her character that really annoyed me. Her father is mute so that justifies her being a total b*tch and throwing her friend under the bus at work? Yeah, nah. It’s just not cool. Bo Na doesn’t even have to grovel or apologise that much in order for Yoon Yi to forgive her. Yeah, I know that Yoon Yi was being the bigger person here and that we should all probably learn from her shining example- but what the hell, Bo Na nearly got her fired and could have ruined her relationship. That’s some pretty serous stuff to just have swept under the rug. Sang Moo’s redemption arc (or should I say redemption scene) was a bit more out of the blue. Suddenly he as a dying mother and he used to be a good boss and Bo Na actually likes him? Like, where did all of this come from? If we’d have had a bit more of these moments sprinkled throughout the show rather than mashed in at the end I would have been more comfortable about Sang Moo’s redemption, and been more interested in his character as a whole. As it was, his sudden goodness felt a bit unwarranted and unwanted.

Recommend?

If you like office romance (cuz I know a lot of people don’t) this is a cute and easy watch.

It was relaxing and fun