Itaewon Class (2020)

You may call me biased because Im a huge Park Seo Joon fan. But this show is something else! Not your regular, same old romantic comedy with shallow stories.
This drama tackles about life. The hardships people suffer, injustice in the criminal system, power of the rich vs the poor/weak, standing up to what is right and being true to yourself, different outcasts in society, gender/racial issues, struggles we face and how we try to survive and even succeed in life.
After finishing all 16episodes, i experienced a real whirlwind of emotions! Anger at the antagonists and how they made Park Sae Royi suffer. But the same time, I was amazed at how amazing of a person Sae Royi was, how strong he was and how he handles every hardship. I was also amazed by Yiseo, she was cool, extemely smart, talented and strong. Her portrayal of the role was spot on. I loved her character because she wasnt too girly at all.

All in all, everyone's acting was amazing. The story is really nice and teaches us about not giving up on our dreams until we reach it, it teaches us to stand up for our beliefs and principles, and teaches us not to be a pushover.

Leia Mais

Honestly i was about to do harsh review while watching the first half of the final ep but somehow i enjoy the last parts. but thinking about it that what i feel while watching this show i love it but hate it sometimes. and i have a love hate feeling to all the mean characters through out the show and that was nice.

The story start good even tho i'm not fan of revenge dramas it was interesting, i loved Saeroyi unique character, that boy that have strong views of life and some how Lack social communication skills in good way. and let's say that the drama strong point was the unique characters not the story it self, that's why when the time come for the story to move on and Saeroyi grow his job they half ass jumping it felt unrealistic easy. and same thing in growing the characters. so i enjoy the drama tell ep 11 then it fall down with fast jump and force push for the love line and the boring long scenes even in the final ep, but i got satisfied just seeing everyone happy in the end so i give them a pass for that.

so if you going to start it don't thing so much in the revenge but the characters you will enjoy them but they will annoy the hell out of you too.

Acting was so good
i'm not fan of PSJ that's why i wasn't planing to watch this show in the start but i fall to him her he completely suit the character.

Yoo Jae Myung as Jang Dae Hee was amazing AMAZING what a great skills to hit me with the right feel.

Kim Da Mi as Jo Yi Seo : let's be real if any one play yiseo instead of DaMi it would get ton of hate ( it get ton but it would have another ton) the character is annoying and childish but she act it so well make it a bit cute and i'm sure a lot fall for the actor more than the character. Honestly i hate her till ep8 just think the actor cute then i start to love her after what she did for Saeroyi

Nara as Oh Soo Ah : same as Dami, her acting give a lot to the character to make me understand it. people who born alone in world learn to live alone and strong only for them selves.

osts was super good especially kim feel and Gaho osts.




spoiler coming so this part for people who watch already ::

in the start i enjoy the unique character and i have big hope for a character development but other than yiseo calming down a little there are non. and i thought the love line will go way better but..

for me it was a good drama until the ending of ep11 that rejection scene, then it's like another writer take over the drama like hell what someone who can't cook 2ep ago is wining competition against all big restaurant and the big lol a rich grandma in the street and yeah fast forward IC are 2 in the country. god if you plan to be ridiculous why give us a hope in strong Saeroyi and smart yiseo journey. and what with the wigs *sigh*
then the forced change in love line like the saeroyi who was in love with Sooah for 10 years i can accept that he lose interest in some point but the sudden falling in yiseo like "ah it was all her" was so off and forced and then push that by stupid kidnapping so we believe that love, ep 14/15 and half 16 was just ridiculous and boring. they could use that time to show him falling in love.
but i love that very last part when everyone become happy even tho i wasn't convinced by Saeyori ( and the kiss was bad) i loved how happy yiseo she deserve to be happy she worked hard haha. also the scene that get me so emotional was when she apologized to Geun Soo for using him. and SooAh bogum girl won. haha.

as i said before the unique characters was the best thing in the drama yet it annoy the hell out of me Honestly i hate yiseo till ep8 so childish and annoying and that type that get what i want no matter what and Run over and take advantage of other feelings so i hate that people hype her as badass while she is so bad the say she better than sooah but she just as bad lol the only different she work to get the man she want. i just love her bc she is cute and all lol but no don't hype that act young people me love to act like that lol. and what if she don't get the man girl leave everything to build him.
i also don't like the random gather of every type who have social problems like transgender, gay , black korean, gangster like yeah good to talk about accepting others but it feel forced by putting them all.

so yeah some are hyping it so much it was just good.

Leia Mais

This drama is different from what people usually watch. It tackles about business, corruption, life of an ex-convict, etc. If you want something about hardwork, revenge, business, and food, this drama is for you! Don't hesitate to watch it because of PSJ's hair haha. You'll learn to appreciate it. Da Mi's character is also different from the usual female leads. She is very straightforward and has a very strong personality. The acting of the villains is also superb! Chairman Jang was amazing all throughout. He'll really get you pissed, and irritated but you'll also pity him. The father-son relationship was also heartwarming. You'll see the difference on how the fathers teach their sons. This drama is a very good watch!

Leia Mais

This drama was quite emotional from the start. Story seemed really interesting and i thoroughly enjoyed watching the starting episodes but then it lost taste. Things seemed scattered. Nothing seemed to be on point but felt like the story is being dragged.
What was the fault of oh so aah? saeroyi gave her hope for 15 years and then what happened? His heart changed. Yi seo was the most heartless and inconsiderate person. Nothing good came from her mouth. Her personality was so annoying. She destroyed the life of guen-soo and wasn't even ashamed for it. Now the revenge part. I couldn't see any revenge by saeroyi. Everything kept repeating. He knelt before jang dae hee, he was again a victim of hit and run, he was powerless at the end. So Aah did everything and eventually it benefited saeroyi.
I felt bad for oh so aah all the time and was disgusted by the personality of yi seo. The story could have been better. The revenge could have been better. Guen-soo's character could be better.
Acting of park seo joon was way too good. His acting was mindblowing and i cried with him in the first two episodes.
I hope others think like that too.

Leia Mais

Assolutamente si

Ho iniziato Itaewon per ben due volte, la prima ero arrivata alla fine del primo episodio ma non ero proprio riuscita a farmelo piacere. Lo avevo lasciato lì, con la speranza di riprenderlo, perché non mi piace lasciare le cose all'inizio.
Allora ci ho riprovato e quello che ho capito è che non era il momento giusto, perché Itaewon non è il solito drama stucchevole, è una rappresentazione perfetta di come funziona la nostra società.
La verità è che dovremmo essere tutti Park Sae‑ro‑yi. Dovremmo essere tutti delle castagne ostinate per far realizzare il nostro sogno e per riprenderci quello che ci hanno tolto. La verità è che questa storia potrebbe essere un po' di tutti. Io ho un debole per Park Seo-joon, mi è piaciuto in tutti i suoi ruoli ma credo che questo sia stato quello che mi ha colpito di più.
Kim Da-mi non la conoscevo ed è stata una rivelazione, ma bravissimo anche tutto il cast secondario.
Guardatelo e se trovate che i primi episodi non vi colpiscano, continuate. Vi assicuro che ne vale la pena.

Leia Mais

Itaewon Class was a breath of fresh air in that it takes familiar themes that we know well such as revenge and childhood affection and develops them in unique and unexpected ways. The cast is colorful and interesting and the leads are well acted and unlike your typical drama heroes. It doesn't lose steam until the end and there's plenty of jokes and exciting moments to go around. The OST only adds to the whole experience. The first few episodes are very much a setup and I didn't feel like it'll keep me interested but I realized I was slowly getting attached to the characters and it eventually became one of my favorite dramas ever.

Leia Mais

Characters

I don't care whether others like this drama or not but i totally hooked up to this drama. I think it's because of the character design.

Park seo joon: Male lead follows his values and principles , park seo joon did wonderful job

Kim da mi: As for female lead kim da mi, she's mind blowing and excellent. her character is very unique she'll do anything for sae ro yi. The way she warns others and being honest about her feelings most importantly she is a psycho I loved that I'm actually watching this show because of her only. I'm actually disappointed because Kwon nara is not the first female lead but after watching kim da mi I totally feel for her and her acting.

Kwon nara: first thing she's pretty. She involved in her character. The way she struggles between male lead and her company is potrayed perfectly she done a good job

Lee joo young: she's beautiful, her acting was good her character is also unique she's a transgender especially her voice I loved it. I loved her acting mainly in episode 12 Ending.

And every character has its back story and unique characterization. It's worth watching

Leia Mais

Absurdity at its finest. Free falling after a good start.

If I had a dollar for every time I thought to myself how the show started interesting but got progressively stupid, I’d be on a Hawaiian vacation. I’m beginning to wonder why I keep watching K-dramas at this point. So many shows have similar unrealistic storylines that I’m coming to a conclusion that writers have to steer their stories to ultra absurd territory to satisfy the fans. It’s maddening because the writers have to take everything so far that it’s hard to go along with the characters’ choices. Toward the end, you’re just staring at the screen in a mixed state of unbelief, frustration, anger and amazement. Obviously, different shows fall differently in the spectrum of ridiculousness and some are better than others. Itaewon Class is definitely near the top of “What the hell just happened and/or why is this happening?” spectrum.

Good stuff
- Revenge plot. The premise was good and refreshing.
- All sorts of colorful characters. Some felt tacked on and unnecessary like Toni and his grandma but they were interesting.
- I like the message of perseverance and second chances.

Bad stuff
- Main bad guy, Jang, is so evil it’s almost comical. So they want you to believe he’s an evil businessman who’s willing to do anything for his company. But it’s done so terribly, it’s not even believable. Anytime he or his messed up son does anything wrong, he asks the victim to kneel and apologize. Every freaking time. As if it’s his MO. What?
- People that work for Jang. He is basically a criminal and people in his company know it but they still work for him. Like for years! They tried to make it sound like Su-ah was plotting her own coup but it was too late and done sloppy.
- Multiple time-skips didn’t work at all. Only things that change after time skip were people’s clothes and hairstyles, except Saeroyi. You wonder what the hell they’ve been doing for the last whatever years because there’s no character development at all. Exact same people as if there was no personal growth during the time skip.
- Transgender cook couldn’t even make simple pub dishes and almost got fired. Then within a few weeks or so, we are told to believe that trained chefs are no match for her and she wins the competition???????????
- Personally, these K-dramas are not doing Korea any favor by portraying it as a country full of violent drunk people who get into fist fights all the time. The main bad guy assaults his own son in front of his employees like it’s nothing. Why are they so proudly exporting this crap?
- Forced love story was awakened. I liked Yi-seo but she’s more of a psycho little sister material than a lover material. Saeroyi knew this and kept things that way until the end when the writer forced him to see flashbacks and “realized” he loved her. Major cringe.
- Geun Soo turns crazy evil like his dad just so he can have Yi-seo. The change is so jarring and unbelievable. It’s like Anakin Skywalker killing little Jedis all of a sudden. Another example of storyline being pulled out of thin air.
- the kidnapping plot line at the end. Just please stop. Why do they take things so far?? End the show if you have no more storyline.
- Searoyi wakes up from a head injury and gets into a car collision and then gets into a fistfight and gets hit in the face multiple times but wins the fight at the end. Is the writer delusional or are we stupid for watching this nonsense?
- At the end, my wife and I just couldn’t wait for it to end.

Leia Mais

Couldn't watch it to the end

This had a really good cast, but a really poor storyline. Surprisingly, as one of the strengths for Korean dramas is the ability of the writers to really develop the characters. This fell very short of that strength. The first couple of episodes were strong, but after that it just went downhill. For me, the weakness was in the believability of the characters to handle their lives. They seemed exaggerated, rather than human. Park Seo Joon's SaeRoy just wasn't believable. To go through what he did and endure such injustice, then behave so apathetic and stoic just wasn't believable. The same with Yoo Jae Myung and Ahn Bo Hyun's characters. To kill someone's father then go after that father's son, unjustly sending him to prison, then once released going after him again for even more vengeance just seems unbelievable. This was a revenge trope theme, and there are a lot of these type of dramas coming out (i.e. Reborn Rich, The Glory) that have stuck with the main plot, yet allowed the characters to show some humaneness even as they are enacting their revenge. I think where this drama failed was the main characters were way, way too exaggerated in their roles, and the supporting characters were way, way too subdued and neither were ever fully developed.

Leia Mais

Starts off really well and then...

I honestly loved this drama at the start, every Friday, I couldn't wait to go back home and watch the new episodes. And then it became really boring and stereotypical. Also I just couldn't stand some characters. I especially didn't like Kwon Nara's character.

Some parts of the story were also really hard to believe i.e. Tony's heritage, the whole thing with Hyeon-yi, like couldn't they simply hire a real trans actor? They wanna be inclusive, but on their own terms.

The acting towards the end was also not convincing at all, I really don't believe that he liked her after years of shunning her,

Overall it's a good drama but you probably wouldn't be missing it out on a lot if you drop it halfway through.

Leia Mais

If you like stories about revenge or underdogs coming up then this drama is for you. The romance could’ve been executed better but this story was solely about avenging the past so you rom-com lovers might not be so interested in this because of that. But if you want a break from the typical dramas then I recommend this one.

THE PLOT seemed a bit basic when reading up on it but I was intrigued to see how the life of an ex-con would be portrayed and lemme tell you they got the struggle life DOWN. And the different themes explored in this drama are what urged me to watch in the first place. There were a few sensitive topics that were addressed such as racism and gender equality, which were all executed very nicely into the story. I just wish they went below the surface a little more but with the way South-Korean dramas are, I’m glad they included issues like this to begin with. I think such sensitive topics should be brought up in dramas more often so people can be more educated and intelligent discussions can start.

THE MAIN CAST was interesting. Except for the villian and his father. Might be the worst antagonists I've seen in a drama. I was impressed with the diversity with the cast as well as the extras. This drama makes me wanna visit Itaewon lol. PSJ was solid in this. I didn’t like him in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim and much prefer his role in this. You get to see a bit more of a range from him in this drama’s setting. His character was dedicated to avenging his father’s death but it never consumed him. There is a way to want justice without becoming obsessed with revenge and throughout his suffering, he never forgot his father’s teachings or the people who helped him along the way. Yi-seo was interesting but very contradicting at times. Hyun-yi was a tasteful portrayal of a transgender man and was one of my favorite characters. Toni had a lot of potential but was surface level in the end. I liked Soo-ah more than Yi-seo but you never really knew where her loyalties lay. Geun-soo’s backstory was good but he didn’t really do much throughout the series. His storyline could have been better executed. Geun-won was annoying and practically useless and was only present to help drive the plot forward.

THE MUSIC was good but nothing special

OVERALL I give this a 8/10. Probably wont rewatch again

Leia Mais