True beauty is:
Friends you can count on
The girls are the typical friends-are-forever lot and I like how fellow bully victim Hye-min (Oh Yoo-jin) eventually becomes part of the group.
The guys are my scene stealers for the show. Seo-joon’s non-gangster gang is hilarious, along with Tae-hoon (Lee Il-joon) and the guy in specs. Their best parts were the hospital room scene and them chasing the ‘ugly ghost’ at the school camp. Brilliant juxtaposition of the guys finding the white sheet at the bottom of the slope with Soo-ho (Cha Eun-woo) confessing to Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young). Loved how the Soo-ho/Seo-joon (Hwang In-yeop) ‘fight’ looked like a weird romp in the fields from the guys’ perspective.
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| so funny to have Seo-joon faint at the sight of 'ugly ghost' |
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| where else in the world can we find a school campsite with a romantic boat setting? |
Special mention for Tae-hoon, who was instrumental in Soo-ho taking his first step, and who loses sleep worrying about Soo-ho's prospects with Ju-kyung! It was funny how Soo-ho so seriously goes to him for dating advice, then does it his own way! Loved how Tae-hoon was always looking for opportunities for Soo-ho.
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| he does get round to the wall thing! |
For a change, it was nice that the deepest friendship explored was the guys’. How it grew from their jamming days to heartbreak to mending hurts to mutual support! I always felt that Soo-ho just knows Seo-joon would not do something to hurt him and Seo-joon never makes a whole-hearted attempt to pursue Ju-kyung. Lovely to see Soo-ho glowing every time he watches Seo-joon perform!
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| so funny, offering Ju-kyung the coffee cup, followed by her parkour exit from the jammed lift |
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| nothing like hospital antics to repair a broken friendship |
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| and nothing like having a gentlemanly drink even though you both like the same girl |
Family who believes in you
Jae-pil (Park Ho-san) is a sweet and supportive dad, Hee-kyung (Im Se-mi) a sweet and supportive sister and in spite of the constant teasing and bickering, Ju-young is a sweet and supportive brother. He is scene stealer 2, Kim Min-ki doing a marvellous job as the cheeky brat, cute in every one of his scenes, even when in the background.
Now, the mum (Jang Hye-jin) is a different story – overly harsh with the dad and putting down Ju-kyung for her ‘looks’. As a beautician, surely she understands how insensitive that is? Why couldn’t she help her daughter with some masks and creams for her acne, trim her eyebrows and get her better looking glasses?!
Well, it was moving to see the family shed tears when they find out about the bullying (but didn’t Ju-young know?), and how comfortably they embrace “woori Soo-ho”. Loved how the parents remind him to be careful with traffic and to have his meals! Lovely post football-cum-instant-noodle scene, with Soo-ho asleep on ajusshi’s lap, then covering him with the blanket before he left for school.
Young love that lasts
For a high school drama, we get a relationship with surprising depth and substance. Ju-kyung and Soo-ho’s cute, sweet, well-blended mutual understanding and regard feel more mature than Hee-kyung and teacher Han’s relationship. I love how they are both quick – and accurate – in recognising each other’s pain and so were really the best partners for each other. Loved how they support and comfort each other without passing judgment. Loved how Soo-ho is so gentle, understanding and giving with her.
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| how rainbowly romantic can it get -- having leftovers on the school roof, with school audition poster as tablecloth? |
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| awww... he just wants to be near her and spend time with her... |
Ju-kyung never opened the door for Seo-joon and I think he knew it all along but couldn’t help trying to peek through the door himself. Well done, Seo-joon, for sending her running to Soo-ho and accelerating their reunion. It still ends fine for him as he closes that door himself and remains friends with both.
I know people found them a hilarious couple but Hee-kyung and teacher Han were an absolute bore. There were funny moments but their scenes dragged the show too much. It’s weird how she launches herself on him because she finds him cute. He’s not cute. He is a kind man who cares a lot for his students, but she didn’t know that yet. Clearly, the aim was to have this couple invert all the usual couple behaviour but I found that too contrived.
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| mortified to find out unnie is dating sem |
Beautiful faces and acting
Ga-young is beautiful, cries very prettily and acts… well… beautifully. Head and shoulders above the rest of the cast.
Eun-woo is better here than in Rookie Historian. This role is much more manageable – not hard to act cold and unsociable, and deliver easy lines decently (it seemed like a quarter of his lines were “Ju-kyung”). In RH, Shin Se-kyung completely overshadowed him in acting and depth of character. Soo-ho’s layers are more within his capability. Even though Ga-young does all the harder parts (well), he doesn’t come out too badly. I enjoyed seeing him goofy and cute, especially the drunken scene (the best part being him smiling inanely while clutching the sauna basket!), and he was alright in the emotional scenes. I could feel Soo-ho's pain in his meltdown and panic attack. It helps that he looks like he walked right out of a manga and his disarming smile sure is a scene stealer and mood shifter! Him being a perfect boyfriend is another contributing factor. Some people think he fared better in RH, though. Oh well.
With less eye makeup, a snazzier haircut and more smiles, Seo-joon could have been more appealing, but I suppose there is not much choice if he is to be patterned on his webtoon character. I don’t know why he is styled like a rock singer when he is singing ballads, and too bad that he doesn’t end up with anyone. He could have been paired interestingly with poles-apart Soo-jin, mousey Hye-min (but great that she gets the big guy) or one of the bullies!
Fantastic job, Lee Go-eun as young Ju-kyung – scene stealer 3! She makes Ju-kyung so adorable and you can see why young Soo-ho (Lee Seung-woo) is drawn by her spontaneity, innocence and caring nature. Loved how she enters the comic shop despondent after being rebuffed by the other girls but when she sees Soo-ho crying, her immediate reaction is to try to cheer him up. Lucky Soo-ho to meet this heart of gold. I like to think he got into horror comics because she assured him they weren’t so scary (and now he will start watching horror movies too!). If only she knew that “crybaby” waited for her at the comic shop, all the bullying and rejection might have been easier to bear.
Music that catches the mood
Although a minor character, Se-yeon’s (Chani!) presence remains in their lives and his ‘Starlight’ spans many episodes. The plot gives him a decent ending, with his song released through Soo-ho and Seo-joon’s efforts and through the same company that tragically destroyed him.
Thought we would hear Eun-woo singing, Rowoon-like, in the karaoke and all we get is the ottoke song, which he lifts from Tae-hoon! It is so cute and sweet, especially with his little try-out. We also have his ‘Love so fine’ playing every now and then.
Loving yourself and your life
The show did a meaningful job with relationships and another plus point was how it dealt with some ‘life’ topics.
One obvious life lesson is that true beauty is beyond physical beauty. Of course, no one in his/her right mind would consider Ga-young ‘ugly’ but the main point was that she and Soo-ho have beautiful hearts. They are both caring and loving but express that differently. Soo-ho even genuinely cares for Soo-jin as a friend, though he is stand-offish with her. Ju-kyung is kind and caring to everyone. Of course, we love how Soo-ho loves Ju-kyung because she’s who she is, nothing to do with how she looks (and we agree with him that she is pretty with or without makeup!).
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| enjoying instant noodles and horror comics together are enough for Soo-ho |
Ju-kyung has a terrible time with the bullies and is crushed about her looks but she is still cheerful and kind, so obviously, she doesn’t truly hate her life. I like how she picks up on Go-eun’s words about not wanting to be too bothered about her looks because that would mean agreeing with the bullies that she is ugly. Solid girl, this Go-eun.
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A lot more attention goes to Ju-kyung because she is the one with the ‘beauty’ issues but I liked best how Soo-ho’s character is written. Lonely, lacking love and kindness, battered by guilt and a sense of abandonment, yet having so much substance and strength. Loved all his little and big gestures for others, such as making sure Seo-joon's mother had the best medical attention, ‘saving’ Soo-jin from her dad’s nonsense, quickly saying 'let's take her home' when drunk Hee-kyung stumbles on the three of them, trying to blow on Ju-kyung’s hot porridge, offering to buy her new makeup when her mum threw her treasures out, offering to fetch her makeup after they fell into the lake, letting her dad stay at his house and of course, going back for her on the rooftop when he didn’t even know her yet. Did he get this from his mum and grandmother (Why did he move out on his own and why doesn’t he ever visit her?). Yes, a stronger actor would have brought this out better but Eun-woo’s efforts are acceptable.
The next big lesson is that life is more than your grades or achievements, as teacher Han tells Ju-kyung. Wonderful to show there is nothing wrong with wanting to become a beautician, and after all, the smartest guy doesn’t graduate and now wants to study music, while the smartest girl doesn’t finish her studies either! Very pleased to see them in history and literature lessons (and the speck guy is tearing after the teacher reads the poem!!).
Then, there are the two big youth issues – bullying and suicide. The bullies were made out to be silly and completely unlikeable and I wish they were dealt with more firmly. The problem of bullying is far deeper than this but at least some of its damage is highlighted.
We wouldn’t expect this kind of show to delve too deeply into suicide. It does look at Se-yeon’s pre-suicide helplessness and hopelessness, and the devastating consequences for loved ones – how wrecked Soo-ho and Seo-joon are after he takes his life. The heartbreaking part is that just a few years later, Eun-woo had to deal with his bandmate’s suicide. A friend’s suicide is incredibly difficult to handle and I hope he is healing properly. Eun-woo, we may not become totally ‘ok’ again but we can get better.
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| at least Soo-ho found comfort in Ju-kyung |
Hence, this is not just an enjoyable show but also a meaningfulful one.
On top of that, there is the comic element that very cleanly fuses with the other aspects. Romantic scenes are often spruced up with something funny, while emotional scenes sometimes get unexpectedly merged with amusing moments. Among my favourites are Soo-ho and Ju-kyung confessing in front of the well (from Mr Goblin’s ghost story), the comic shop scenes, Soo-ho accidentally sending the skull emoji in his first message as ‘boyfriend’, and Soo-ho and Seo-joon making mandoo with mandoo victim Ju-kyung’s family.
Little loopholes
Ju-kyung was explaining that she wasn’t going to kill herself on the rooftop that night, and then there was the fire evacuation. Soo-ho never learns what she wanted to say.
Why did those ruffians keep chasing and trying to harass Seo-joon in the early episodes? In addition, he never acknowledges Ju-kyung’s help in ‘saving’ him that night when she ended up with his helmet.
What was in the bag from Soo-ho that Ju-young helped pass to Ju-kyung when she was hiding at home? Would have loved to see what was beneath the pink ribbon!
Why did Ju-young, the smart one, end up having to retake the CSAT? Was he too distracted because of Go-eun?
Soo-ho’s dad’s manager – shouldn’t this guy be taken to task? He needlessly destroyed Se-yeon and practically singlehandedly broke Soo-ho and Seo-joon, wrecked their friendship as well as put more nails in the coffin of Soo-ho and his dad’s relationship. Did he not feel the worst guilt after Se-yeon killed himself? All he got for all this was to be yelled at by Soo-ho’s dad.
I sometimes re-watch scenes in shows after I have figured out connections and I was surprised that I did this backtracking with a high school drama! How many times have I used “cute”, “sweet”, “funny” and associated words? That’s the whole point of a rom-com, isn’t it?
Finally, here is someone who analysed the beautiful cinematography. My amateur eyes had only picked out a handful of lovely frames and noticed some light/colour-infused shots (and omo, their pretty, flowery school building!).
16 episodes, tvN
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