Itaewon Class (2020)

Lutter pour arriver, et puis se venger,... classique !

J’ai beaucoup aimé la première moitié, moins la seconde.
En fait, on a là le schéma classique du jeune homme pauvre mais avec un cœur de bronze et une volonté de fer (pardon pour ces comparaisons métalliques, mais elles s’imposent !) dont le désir de vengeance va être l’épine dorsale de sa vie. Il veut détruire JangDa.
En face de lui le non moins classique schaebol dur, cruel (faut voir ce qu’il fait de son fils aîné !) au fils incapable parfait gosse de riche mais avec aussi un fils illégitime qui sans arrêt mettra des bâtons dans les roues de Sae Royi. Ce qui apporte une air frais de nouveauté, ce sont les amis que Sae Royi s’est fait au cours de ses années de prison (Choi Seung Kwon) ou sur les chantiers où il était ouvrier(Ma Hyu Ni, transgenre en cours de féminisation) et ceux qui viennent s’ajouter à son groupe : le fils illégitime de Sang, Geun Won, un métis africano-coréen Toni Kim à la recherche de son père, et Jo Yi Ses, une jeune fille de 20 ans, brillante, dure et cynique, qui, pour le suivre renonce à l’université.
Toutes ces figures nouvelles et originales donnent un ton d’ouverture au début du drama, mais au fil de l’histoire, il devient évident que leur personnage ne sera que très peu exploité, leur rôle étant surtout de mettre en valeur le grand cœur et l’esprit d’égalité de Sae Royi.
la seconde partie entièrement consacrée à l’ascension sociale et financière de Sae Royi repousse un peu tout ce petit monde dans l’ombre.

Au total, c’est un drama très agréable à suivre, mais parfaitement convenu au niveau du scénario et de la psychologie des personnages, sauf l’héroïne, qui tranche par un côté cynique et froidement pragmatique, qu’elle va beaucoup adoucir au contact de l’archange Park Sae Royi !! Il est tellement bien que j’ai même cru une seconde qu’il allait pardonner au vieux saligot qui lui a gâché la vie ! Heureusement il se rappelle qu’il est humain et le laisse à son marasme !
On ne s’ennuie pas, mais la fin est un peu longue, mais on ne s’ennuie pas, mais je n’ai jamais été vraiment enthousiaste, sauf… sauf que je me suis régalée de voir pendant16 épisodes Park Ses Joon, avec une coupe de cheveux déroutante, mais qui, au fil de l’histoire lui va de mieux en mieux, à mi chemin du crâne rasé du bagnard et du bol médiéval, et j’imagine que le coiffeur de plateau devait repasser tous les matins pour retailler le millimètre qui avait poussé la nuit, pour que ce casque luisant et parfait ne change pas d’un plan sur l’autre !

Bref, drama très regardable, mais sans plus !

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I have to say that this was one of the bests dramas that I've watched until now. I was apprehensive because I feel a little disturbed with stories that are moved by a revenge plot. Nothing in particular, I just don't feel good when I saw some productions that exalt revenge as a powerful gun to confront issues. But "Itaewon class" showed the real face of revenge.

Seeing Park Saeroyi (Park Seo-joon) constructing his life based on injustice was a lesson. His motivations always are revenge and this made him reach great things, money, friends, respect... But even with all this, his life always was sour. He wasn't satisfact with nothing until realizing the value of his life and what really moved your heart. On the other hand, we had President Jang (Yoo Jae-myung), that started your journey with the right ambition, but in the middle of the way lost his principles and let this ambition drag him to the end of the well. Saw this journey was pretty intense and made me reflect on my own ambitions and what can move me. Still reflecting on this. Without talking about the important topics that were trate in the drama, as preconception with gender and color of skin. If here in Brazil this is topics that still are delicate, I imagine the impact of this in Korea.

But talking about the production... The recent dramas are doing a great job showing visceral things to the audience. The places, the acting, the OST... Everything was very good and impressive. I loved Kim Da-mi as Jo Yi-seo! What character! She was totally consistent and funny! I love to have a female lead that was insensitive for once, even when she was totally crazy about Saeroyi. I'm not saying that this was healthy or that I agreed with this behavior, but I thought was new entertainment between so many female leads that look the same. Recently we have the amazing Ko Mo-young on "It's okay to be not okay", but I still thought Jo Yi-seo more unpredictable and different.

I love the close and how they put the heal of Saeroyi as a priority. We have romance and friendship, but the peace of Saeroyi with himself was the most remarkable thing. And how this journey tasted? Just sweet!

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Happiness. The warmth I share with you.

I cannot even begin to explain how heart wrenching and emotionally uplifting this drama was. This drama has to be one of the most unique ones I have watched till date and without doubt it has secured a tight spot in both my heart and rewatch list. I have watched a lot of dramas in my seventeen years of existence and this has to be one of those rare dramas that literally has everything I have wanted in a Kdrama; LGBTQ represantation, a culturally diverse cast as well as complex characters with determination. The romance between Park Saeroyi and Jo Yo-seo is just a warm little bonus that made my heart melt.

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Finally

At last a kdrama with a tiny bit of romance that didnt make me want to smash my tv!!! An edgy drama with good characters, plot and the slightest bit of romance (rather than the usual absolute smothering of romance that kdramas are ruined by). Female leads didnt get all mushy and destroyed and played a stromg major role in the entire story. And best of all the cute, unlikely romantic winning female, actually got the guy in the end! Its been a long haul through a mountain of absolute dross to finally find this diamond of a series (strong girl Bong Soon at last has someone else on the podium)

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Emotional Damage

Overview: "Itaewon Class" follows Park Sae-ro-yi's quest for revenge against a powerful conglomerate, intertwining themes of justice, friendship, and resilience.

Characterization: The characters are multifaceted and relatable, though some may lack depth compared to others.

Aesthetic Elements: The soundtrack and cinematography contribute to the series' emotional impact, although they may not stand out significantly.

Plot and Pacing: While the plot is engaging overall, pacing issues and predictable plot twists may hinder the viewing experience for some.

Critical Analysis: Critiques may focus on reliance on tropes, uneven character development, and pacing concerns.

Conclusion: "Itaewon Class" offers a compelling narrative with memorable characters and thought-provoking themes, despite its flaws.

Rating: 7.5/10

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Sometimes Great, Sometimes Insufferable

So when I first signed up for this site about a month ago, I sat down and did reviews for all the dramas I could remember watching. Tonight something relating to Itaewon Class came up (a show I watched only a few months back) and I couldn't remember talking about my biggest issue with the show. Turns out I accidentally forgot to do a review for this one, so let's get into it.

Occasionally someone's character in a drama is so nasty, awful, cruel, idiotic, annoying, narcissistic, etc., that I will struggle to want to watch anything with that person again. Usually that's a nod to how great of an actor they are, but this is definitely not one of those cases, as everything I've seen written about the FL's character Oh Soo Ah (Kwon Nara) in this drama has been weirdly positive. Despite that, I thought she was vile. Them writing that she wasn't actually the one who turned him into police for the underage selling as if we're all supposed to go, "Omg... I was sooo wrong about her!" after EVERYTHING else she did from the time he met her until the end of the drama... give me a break.

After all Park Sae-Ro-Yi (Park Seo-Joon) did for her, after all Sae-Ro-Yi's father did for her, she behaved that way? Not just once either. It was one selfish, narcissistic, cold-blooded decision after another. All I kept thinking throughout this whole movie was that he was 100% correct about her from the first time they met, and the time as kids after that was fake af. She had always been fake, and he was always unable to see it.

You can say what you want about Jo Yi-Seo (Kim Da Mi), and sure there were times where she was definitely wayyyy out of line, but at least she was real. Brutally honest and real. And of course, that brings us to another example of Soo Ah's fakery; the introduction of a beautiful, strong, and determined female who knew she wanted Seo-Ro-Yi from the beginning. After years of treating him either like sh*t, like she was too good for him, or like he didn't exist at all, suddenly she's interested in him when she learns this girl is? Bffr

The rest of the cast was decent. I loved the transformation of Choi Seung-Gwon (Ryu Kyung-Soo) over time and I also really loved his relationship with Sae-Ro-Yi. I definitely feel like they shafted Kim To-Ni (Chris Lyon) at the end a bit. They definitely should've all been more involved and more together.

Also, the romance thing went on for too long because every time he didn't return feelings, I didn't really care except for the fact that he'd then go and do some stupid sh*t for Soo Ah. I also hated the trans thing. It added nothing to the story and was totally irrelevant. The actress, Lee Joo-Young looked the same in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo so it feels like they were just like, "You have a boyish haircut, what if we make you a dude trying to be a woman for funsies!?" Like, instead of writing her as an interesting person, they just did this.

I was worried I'd feel the same about Chris Lyon being in it because Netflix tends to throw random diversity characters into shows so they give the appearance of virtue, when in reality there's just no good reason, and they can't be bothered to create one. I didn't dislike his placement at all though. They storyline with his dad and grandma and them hiring him to speak English because they assumed he could speak it... that all makes sense.

Anyways, I don't think I'd rewatch because it was too infuriating.

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Overall- would recommend to everyone

I watched this drama because i had previously seen dramas with Park Seo Joon and i was interested in watching this one. I think the story was interesting to follow through most of the series. I liked how there was a continuation of a sentimental moment Saeroyi had with his father before his father passed away early on in the series, the way the wine tasted. I think it was clever how the mention of weather the alcohol was sweet or bitter also reflected how things were going in each characters life. i think there was the perfect amount of suspense in this story and there was always something going on. I actually ended up really liking the character of Jang Geun Won despite the fact that he was meant to be unlikable through the series because of his actions i pitied the character because i think it was because of family pressures and not nececerally spite.

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Refreshing for me!

This drama really felt so fresh to me. I appreciated that for the most part things stayed relatively low stakes and focused on character relationships. There was some less believable aspects of the story and the character interactions, but for the most part it stayed grounded and realistic. This feels rare for a lot of dramas sometimes!

Those last few episodes after the final time jump though..... Woof. they really leaned so hard into the drama tropes! So much hospitalization, kidnappings, a coma, they did it all. It was like they strayed from the traditional drama writing for too long and they couldn't resist at the end.

Overall I thought the actors did well, I loved the music, and the story kept me interested.

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Good show with some issues

The reviews on here for Itaewon class are very interesting with a lot of very high or very low scores. At the end of the day I think it's somewhere in the middle.

I think Itaewon's biggest failing is the story, it's a revenge story but not a particularly good one. The ML is wronged and he spends the show attempting to get revenge, but it's not very interesting. It's a weird mix of "the best revenge is living well" and also attempting to take down his enemies. This really ends up being framing for a charming restaurant slice of life and romance with a great cast.

Kim Da Mi and Park Seo Joon play off each other very well with Kim's outgoing and forceful character picking up the slack for Park's more limited dialog. Watching them run a restaurant is great and the three employees at DanBam are good and fit in well. I want to give the show extra credit for having a transgender character and handling her well.

While I don't think the revenge plot is great Yoo Jae Myung does play a great villain. His actions are sometimes uncaring, sometimes cruel, but always feel like they're coming from the place of a real fleshed out character with his own motivations.

My largest issues with the show come near the end. The pacing starts to suffer and the writing starts to feel the need to inject extra tension and drama into the last few episodes rather than letting the story come to a more natural conclusion.

But at the end of the day I really like the show, it was my first kdrama and while it isn't my favorite it's certainly above average and the cast and setting are great.

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The message is the most significant

The message of this drama will always be, in my opinion, that our happiness and value are in the people around us. The money and things we have don't have any value and we will not be happy if we don't have people we love around us. I will always think that the enemy situation that drove the story was a little overwhelming since the beggining, it made me especially rethink about the fact that people with money really rule the world as they want without punishment and it is something that really should stop.
Geun Soo, Hyun Hi e Soo Ah were my favourites characters, Geun Soo and Soo Ah had theirs ups and downs, hurt people in the process but they are characters who really had a big evolution overall. Hyun Hi was definitely the character that stole my heart, the history, the way she is portrayed and how strong she is are an inspiration.

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