Somber and thought-provoking, The King of Pigs is the kind of drama that forces the viewer to come face to face with one of the ugliest part of our society. It doesn't offer any comfort, it doesn't try to make itself more palatable: it's brutal and depressing since the beginning with no heroes, only flawed and broken characters that you can't fully blame nor justify as the difference between victims and perpetrators gets thinner and thinner.

School violence isn't seen as an independent phenomenon, it makes it clear that it's a reflection of our society, that the blame is broader than it may appear; it touches on social gerarchies, bad parenting, vile teachers that aren't worth the seat that they occupy and least, but not least, a shared blame that we may all be guilty of: normalizing such behaviors and looking the other way. It's definitely a drama that has lots of food for thought and not an easy watch.

Was is truly flawless? No, probably not. But then again, I have yet to find a show that doesn't have some weaknesses. But to me it gets as close as possible to being perfect and it deserves to be called a masterpiece. But the flaws should be mentioned, instead of completely disregarded: the policewoman, although not as bad as some people say because she still fulfilled a role in the story as a sort of witness/narrator, and her investigations are without a doubt the weakest part of the drama; it's where the writing gets a sloppier and not as strong as the rest of the script that was truly without faults (and it's even more impressive when you think about the fact that this is the first work from the screenwriter). An example is the policewoman being uncommunicative and doing things on her own, even when it may lead someone else in danger, getting clues a bit randomly and not taking her gun out when it should be needed. But like I said, this kind of inconsistencies are more common in tv shows and movies than one may think, and they're hardly enough to ruin a well done drama, but this is a long topic and this review is already long enough on its own.

Now, onto the good things:

The script: I already said that this is the first work from the writer and he did an excellent job. He made some very bold decisions that were very much needed, even if it may make the viewer uncomfortable. He wrote some excellent dialogues that are hard to forget and leave an impression. The pacing was solid, I never felt bored, never felt the need to look at my phone (which is saying a lot for me because I get easily distracted): it was slow enough to not make it rushed, but fast enough to keep things as intense as possible for 12 episodes. And more importantly, it never felt formulaic. As I said before the differences between heroes and villains gets more and more blurry, there aren't any fixed roles (like can you even tell who is first lead and who is the second lead among Kyung Min and Jong Suk? Are they even heroes? Who is the main villain?), it isn't afraid to put its characters in a bad light, there aren't any forced cliffhangers that end up getting repetitive and predictable toward the end, no overkill of plot twists and new informations that can make the drama feel convoluted, no unnecessary melodrama or moving montages put there just to buy some time and get to the established number of episodes. These facts alone are enough to make it worth praising.

Directing, editing and cinematography: someone told me that they liked how the drama was put together and edited because it looked smooth, especially in the way the past and the present are intertwined because it had a good continuity and it made it seem as if the past wasn't a distant and unrelated past, but something that is still pretty much present; and of course I agree. And I think that this quote from Kyung Min deserves a mention here: "the past is present and future". Clunky translation aside, this quote fits the show so well and we can truly say that The King of Pigs successfully managed to stay true to this quote even in terms of editing. I also loved the work that the director did as he often framed the characters between objects, behind stained windows and broken glasses, in mirrors and with their faces being doubled and fragmented by some reflection present in the scene. All these things did a great job at emphasizing the tension and the characters fractured minds and mental state. Even the way all the kids were often framed like littles soldiers in the way they were aligned (this is especially evident in a key scene that I'm not going to spoil) as to make it clear that what we were watching was abnormal and the result of a toxic mentality. I also love the coloring used for the scenes set in the past because they make it look so unhealthy and suffocating. And the close-ups, out of focus shots, dutch angles all used in the right times to make the scenes more intense and convey a turmoil of emotions.
I think that this drama did visual storytelling in the right way and the director made the story truly immersive. There are many examples but I don't want this review to have spoilers.

Soundtrack: another thing I love is that it doesn't overuse its songs, so the music never felt repetitive and random to me. It was never distracting and only used at the right moments. It knew when a scene needed to be silent and when, on the other hand, the soundtrack was necessary to give a stronger impact. Also kudos to who picked all the songs at the end of each episode, they were all so powerful and reflected the episodes so well; I rarely watch the ending credits, but here I couldn't skip them because I felt that they were an important part of the drama too as I sat there, staring at the black screen, thinking about what I had just watched, as I got emotional over a song whose lyrics I couldn't even understand.

Characters and performances: with the sole exceptions of Chae Jung An (Kang Jin Ah), who was good, especially in that one scene in the ending (again, no spoilers here), but not outstanding as the others, all the performances were simply breathtaking. Even most of the supporting characters did so well.
Kim Dong Wook playing Kyung Min managed to convey so many emotions with just his eyes alone: you could feel the rage, the tiredness of man who is not a killer by nature and the pain in his eyes as they changed from a heartless gaze when he looked at his oppressors to a more sorrowful expression when he was in front of his friends. Those rare outbursts of emotions were very well done too. This is for me by far his best performance (sorry Hwa Pyung, I still love you) that shows the acting range he has.
Kim Sung Kyu, Jung Jong Suk in the story, played the part of a broken and unstable man so well that sometimes I really worried about the actor's mental state as his character became more and more immersed in his past memories and lost his composure. His teary, angry eyes will be hard to forget. I hope he will have more main roles from now on because his talent is wasted as a supporting actor.
Choi Hyun Jin (especially), Sim Hyun Seo, Lee Chan Yoo and all of the kid actors also did an outstanding job as they were really able to keep up with their adult colleagues as if it were nothing. They had a very difficult task because the materials they had to work with was important, heavy and not easy at all, and yet they managed to do it perfectly and professionally. I sincerely hope that they will have a bright future ahead.

Rewatch value: I think that this is a rather subjective point, but anyway, I think it has a high rewatch value. I was doing a rewatch for the finale and it was just as emotional as the first time, if not even more. Knowing what will happen makes every scene carry even more weight.

Finally the review ends here. Sorry if it was long and thank you if you really managed to read it all and reach the end. I'm not expecting to get much attention because I'm fully aware that I can't summarize to save my life. I never wrote a review here, partly because the shows I've watched had already many reviews, partly because this is the first time I get so emotional about an ongoing drama so I really wanted to share my thoughts. So, back to the important stuffs, if you're unsure about watching it because it's not that popular, but if you like dark thrillers, then give it a try! You won't regret it :)