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

Healer

Healer

9.5/10

Healer 

Genre:                                   Episodes: 20                                   Year: 2015

Romance

Comedy

Action

Synopsis:

Five friends in South Korea run an illegal pirate broadcasting station that aims to comment on events that legal media cannot. Many years later three individuals are brought together through their past connections with the five reporters. Healer- a mysterious night courier, Chae Young Shin- an entertainment reporter, and Kim Moon Ho- a famous journalist and news reporter. The three must work together to uncover the mysteries that surround their connection.

Cast:

Ji Chang Wook (Seo Jung Hoo)

Park Min Young (Chae Young Shin)

Yoo Ji Tae (Kim Moon Ho)

Kim Mi Kyung (Jo Min Ja)

Park Sang Won (Kim Moon Shik)

Oh Kwang Rok (Ki Young Jae)

General Thoughts:

‘Healer’ strikes that magical drama moment where everything is right even if you don’t exactly know why. The plot was riveting and racing along, yet it wasn’t exactly new. Many parts of the series were similar to previous dramas, but the writers for ‘Healer’ were able to string the sequences in such a way that it gave off a fresh, new feel.

Also Ji Chang Wook is devastatingly handsome

The wonderfully constructed characters and bursting chemistry didn’t hurt either. The whole drama had a bit of a ‘City Hunter’ vibe to it- and I’m not complaining. I loved ‘City Hunter’, and (dare I say it) I loved ‘Healer' just a little bit more. It had a similar badass hero with a squishy sweet centre, corrupt and powerful people that need to be brought to justice, and a cute romance (played by the ‘City Hunter’ actress no less). And I cannot stress how cute this romance was. I haven’t seen every action-romance K-Drama, but I’d bet money on Healer and Young Shin being the most endearing and believable of the bunch.

Out rom-ed all the rom-coms

While the romance was a side-dish to the main mystery-action, Healer-kicking-ass plot, it was given a nice amount of development and screen-time. The romance wasn’t just fluff either. It was nice to see a relationship develop between two characters that wasn’t just for relationship’s sake. Healer and Young Shin (and Moon Ho too) strove to help and understand each other, which allowed for not only great relationship growth but also individual development and plot enhancement. It was a wonderful depiction of how relationships directly impact the world around our characters and our characters’ motivations- something that is sadly lacking in your typical rom-com. Moving on to the action. Yum. What splendid fight scenes. What spectacular parkour. The writers managed to find just the right balance of action in the drama. It never felt like Healer was getting into fisticuffs every second step or that the fight scenes were too long and drawn out.

Action and fights and all kinds of adventure

It had just the right amount of action to keep the momentum going and the pulse up without becoming overused. Between the heart-racing romance and the heart-racing action there was hardly any time to rest. Each character was constructed fully and cast perfectly. All hail Ji Chang Wook. Park Min Young was delightful as our heroine- quirky in a completely believable, relatable way. She was wonderful in every scene, able to convey the needed joy, fear or devastation.

Look at her! Look at her actually do things!

The character of Chae Young Shin was so completely loveable and I attribute a large part of that to Park Min Young’s wonderful delivery. Also she actually did stuff…like she actually contributed vastly to missions. I know- a heroine who actively participates! Swoon. While her character did verge on irritating one or two times, it was simply because it looked like she was going to take the path that many of our less-than-satisfactory heroines have taken. But then the writers always left us happily surprised when she turned the situation by being a normal human being and reacting in an understandable, functional way. Yay! Then we have Yoo Ji Tae- who was absolute magic. Kim Moon Ho would have been such a difficult character to portray. All other characters have a niche where they fit perfectly- but Moon Ho’s a bit of an oddball, not quite fitting in anywhere. He’s a little too young to be considered a perpetrator the way his brother is, but he’s also not quite young enough to be considered a victim the way our main pairing is.

Aww, poor Moon Ho doesn't fit with the big kids or the little kids

It’s this sense of isolation and loneliness that really build Moon Ho into the bizarrely intriguing character he is. Moon Ho is not quite as black-and-white as our main couple are, and there’s a good portion of the series where you can’t quite be sure whether he’s on our side or not. While many actors would have struggled and come across simply blank, Yoo Ji Tae is able to convey an unbelievable amount of emotion through a single expression- yet he never quite gives everything away. What even- how is that possible? Witchcraft or something.

Well on his way to crazy-town

Park Sang Won is similar as Kim Moon Shik, but it was less his actual goodie/baddie status that was unclear and more his opinion on his position. Park Sang Won danced the same line as Yoo Ji Tae, having to convey large amounts of emotion without many lines, and without exposing his whole character. All the support characters were so amazing that it would take me all year to write about them all so extensively. Ajumma and Taemi made a great team for Healer, and who didn’t love the band of reformed criminals that surrounded Young Shin and her Dad? And then there’s the original five reporters. I have never seen such magical casting before. All five younger actors were able to completely capture the essence of the older actors. It was never confusing trying to figure out who was who as the acting was so very similar from both the younger and older actors. Shout-out to Choi Dong Goo who was so ridiculously similar to Oh Kwang Rok it’s hard to believe they aren’t actually the same person in different periods of time.

I mean, they even look kinda the same

The reveal of all the drama’s mysteries was handled in a delightfully delicate way. We were always given enough to keep us interested, but never too much that we thought we had any idea what was going on. Each Healer job contributed to the overall mystery in one way or another and was an excellent way of tying all our ends together and leading up to bigger, badder threats. It was also wonderful that the writers didn’t go to town on the fact that our three main characters had known each other as children. While it’s clear that their past relationship is the reason they are all involved in the current events, it’s never used as a reason to explain their closeness.

Too cute for words

It was so enjoyable to watch these people start their relationships from scratch and have to build up trust again- because that’s how relationships work. You don’t just magically trust someone because you were buddies 10 or so years ago. I also appreciated that the drama didn’t linger on the ‘your dad might have killed my dad’ point. Because who cares? These two kids barely remember their biological fathers so why would they lose their sh*t over that discovery? Well done drama, well done. I applaud your common sense.

What Was Great:

Healer:

Yes, a million times yes

Okay, it’s Ji Chang Wook in badass clothes and kicking a lot of butt. Oh, and he also sets up super adorable secret dates for his crush. Mm hmm. What’s not to like? Seriously though, he’s such a well constructed, well developed character. It’s always lovely to see characters that aren’t your typical Prince Charming- maybe because it gives us the illusion that he may actually exist out there somewhere. Sure, Healer is cool, coordinated and smoking hot- but he’s also massively introverted, mildly damaged, and a bit of a slob. Ji Chang Wook manages to accurately portray the false bravado that Healer puts on to hide his loneliness and insecurities. Then on the flip side of that we have his Clark Kent disguise, Bong Soo- timid, stuttery and a bit of a fool, but equally as adorable. It was a stroke of genius to use Healer’s Clark Kent persona to sidle through Young Shin’s defences and have her open up to him. About him. It was beautiful, funny, and oddly sad to watch Bong Soo listen to how amazing Young Shin thought he was, or be rejected because of himself, or c*ck-block himself. Yes, yes, hilarious, delightful gold.

Side of Romance:

The fact that the romance wasn’t the main point of the plot was wonderful. In an eara crammed filled with rom-coms it was nice to have a different genre taking the lead.

These two made my tummy tickle

And yet we still got our delicious taste of the romance- done even better than some of the rom-coms. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that the writers didn’t try to cram a love triangle in there. It made scenes of Healer acting passive-aggressively that much more entertaining. As it is, Kim Moon Ho remaining as an Uncle to Healer and Young Shin was exponentially more fulfilling than if he’s been interested in Young Shin romantically.

Infinitely better than a love kerfuffle

Grey Villain:

It’s always enjoyable to have a villain, and it’s double enjoyable to have a villain who’s not clear cut. The interesting aspect of Kim Moon Shik’s character is not whether or not he classifies as being a ‘bad’ person. Pretty early on we’re given a clue that he has at least some degree of responsibility for two deaths- but it's whether or not he views himself as guilty.

He was so pretty though

It’s interesting to watch the way his character progresses from the two timelines. In the past it’s very difficult to condemn Moon Shik’s actions. Running from the scene after Oh Gil Han’s murder is totally understandable- if the two boys had stayed they also would have died. His adoration of Choi Myung Hee is clear for all to see, so it makes sense that he would lie to the police about Gil Han’s death in order to save her life, as it seemed like the Elder’s people were well on their way to knocking her off before blackmailing Moon Shik into switching sides. Where it gets extremely interesting was that brief scene where we see him repeating the lie to the police in interrogation after interrogation. At first he’s scared, uncomfortable and presumably wracked with guilt. But as he repeats his (false) testimony time and time again his appearance becomes more comfortable and he speaks more confidently, almost as if he has somehow managed to convince himself that what he is saying is true. Quick jump to the future and Moon Shik is clearly not a stand-up guy. He has a magical ability to manipulate the truth so that it works to his advantage, something he must have learned during all those interrogations, and has no issue with letting others do his dirty work so that he can live a comfortable life. The battle of words between him and Moon Ho were intoxicating to watch- we want so badly for Moon Ho to one-up Moon Shik, but Moon Shik is so comfortable living in his lie that doing so is nearly impossible.

How bad did we want baby brother to get him?

Moon Shik’s demise was perhaps one of the most satisfying aspects to the show’s conclusion. He didn’t really lose much in the sense of money and possessions, but losing the trust and friendship of the woman he loved nearly destroyed whatever was left of him. Then we become privy to the fact that whenever he drinks his comfortable lie warps around him and he dangles on the brink of insanity, unable to grasp his own identity. Ohhh, so satisfying.

What Wasn’t:

Elder’s Demise:

While I appreciate Moon Shik’s downfall, I didn’t really feel the same about how the Elder’s demise came about.

What a total butt that guy was

It’s all meticulously mapped out and makes sense both plot and timeline wise- but I just wish we’d had a few snippets of the virus before the final two episodes. I loved that the same video that started the series (Healer’s first assignment we saw was delivering the video to Moon Shik) also wrapped up the series, but in a drama that had done so well balancing the pace, the end felt a little rushed.

What total mayhem

All of a sudden there’s a girl on a plane and a virus and Healer’s switched sides but not really and there’s an interview and the Elder’s defeated. Boom, done, finished, kaput. On a side note- it was wonderful how Bong Soo ‘died’ so that Healer could live on as Seo Jung Hoo.

NOPE

That Dude’s Giggle:

Such a small thing to be annoyed about, but it bugged me whenever I saw it. In a drama that was so serious and reality-based, this one little action came across cartoonish and gimmicky. I know it worked for some people and made the little man seem scary, but I just couldn’t abide by it. Particularly because it wasn’t something he’d been doing all series long. Suddenly he was just covering up some giggles and I was just like…ew, no, stop.

Re-watch?

Yes, yes- forever yes. It’s basically Korean Batman. But with more computers and hacking and a much less irritating girl. The drama is as perfectly balanced as K-Drama’s get in every department: cast, characters, plot, execution- this series just did it for me.

Just watch it and love it