Melancholia (2021)

Slightly uncomfortable setting. Infinitely fascinating subject.

Imagine speaking a language so fluently but only few can understand. The chances of you meeting someone equally as fluent is so very small that when you do finally meet one, your eyes open wide in wonder and both your hearts race with joy.

Math is that language here. It’s presented so fascinatingly that you really can’t help but fall in love with it and all its creative possibilities (even if we aren’t as gifted as the lead characters).

The setting in which we find our leads is the biggest problem for most viewers. On top of the age gap, one is (initially) still in high school and the other is his direct mentor. I managed to overlook and gloss through this because the beginning of their “romance” is more of a cerebral one. But I do understand why it makes some people wary.

The more painful part though is the confluence of events and malicious people that lead to their scandal. But like the artwork that the show's title is based on, it gets better.

I say watch this if you are fine with age gaps and are remotely interested in math and Lee Do Hyun.

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Life is a difficult equation

Melancholia comes from the ancient Greek medical term μελαγχολία that has two compounds; μέλας (melas) that means black and χολή (kholḗ) that means bile. Basically, it is used to describe someone that feels deep sadness. One of the first appearances of the term "melancholia" is found in a Hippocrates work called "Περί νούσων" (About deceases). The word captures the idea that some ancient Greeks believed (mostly Hippocrates) that the character and the mood of a person depends on the blending degree of several bodily fluids.

I have mixed feelings about this series. It kept me company and I got used to watching it almost every night. Nevertheless, even though I enjoyed it, it also had many flaws that I need to mention. Starting from the technical aspects, the directing is quite good, but at the same time not that good to make you eager to congratulate the director. Let’s be honest, good directing is something that many Korean series have, especially when the budget is decent, so this is just another one of those. The cinematography of the series is very eye-catching and I personally think it is one of the best things this drama has to offer. The original soundtrack was decent, but, in my opinion, nothing worth remembering.

Plot-wise, melancholia is nothing groundbreaking or to be more precise it could have been groundbreaking, if some things were handled differently. As the synopsis suggests, the series is divided into two parts. The first one is taking place in Aseong high school with our two protagonists being the positive Ji Yoon Soo, the math teacher, and Baek Seung Yoo, her brilliant student. The second part of the series takes place four years later, with our two main characters trying to get revenge after a sexual scandal that involved them destroyed their lives.

Unfortunately, the drama does a very poor job at mixing the light-hearted and romantic aspects of the series -that are barely there and mostly one-sided, since we all know it couldn’t have been portrayed otherwise- with the more serious subject of school corruption. Especially in the first few episodes, it feels like you are watching two different series. The second part focuses much more on the corruption plot, but was also poorly handled. It felt unnecessarily long and it wasn’t exciting to watch or suspenseful. Generally, the series is quite slow paced and it could have easily been reduced down to twelve episodes making the script much more interesting to watch. Making a slow paced series doesn't mean that it will be draggy or that it will need less episodes. In this particular case though, I felt that the scriptwriter tried too much to make this impactful by making things move slower and as a result we had many unnecessary scenes.

There were some aspects in the story that I enjoyed, even though I wish that all of them were much more developed. The love for math and how you can find them in the simplest of things was one of the best parts of the series. Even though we have seen many series about students and corrupted schools, what I enjoyed about Melancholia is that it portrayed a genius student and how a person that has such talent can also have many problems that we can’t really imagine. Lastly, there were some interesting characters, like Jin Hyeon Uk (Yoon Soo’s father) and Ryu Sung Jae. Even though I would like to see more of their story, they were still a delight to watch.

The acting in the series is nothing phenomenal, but all of the actors did a fairly good job at portraying their roles. If there was one actor that fascinated me with his performance once again, then that would be Choi Dae Hoon. I realized his potential in Beyond Evil and he had another quite interesting character to portray here (in comparison to his usual bland support roles). I truly wish he gets to showcase his talent more in the future. There is also some overacting here and there, especially from Jin Kyung that portrays Noh Jung Ah, the director of Aseong high school. It seemed, at times, like she was trying to be another Cheon Seo Jin from Penthouse, something that could never work, because this type of acting is not appropriate for this series.

Perhaps I shouldn’t mention this in the review, but I have seen many people using the word "pedophilia" to talk about this series and I feel the need to say that this a very wrong term to use. Please, don’t use such a term without first searching what it actually means, because there are certain requirements for someone to be considered a pedophile. However, if you find the theme even a little uncomfortable, it is better to avoid it.

All in all, melancholia is a visually pleasing series, with some interesting characters and good acting that has a very promising start, with one of the best first episodes I have seen in a while. However, unfortunately, it seems like they were unable to make the different parts of the plot connect in a balanced way and halfway through the series lost its spark and it became quite uneventful and bland.

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a true gem!

There is an oddity about myself, I was never good at Mathematics, but I have a mathematical mind, as of analysis, perspective and a fair understanding of symmetry. Having watched Melancholia, filled my mind with euphoria and, despite its' title, happiness.
It was awsome to see the world in mathematical terms, and as Greek is was awsome to hear the reference for Pythagoras who said that the Universe is numbers. I congratulate the director for the wonderful depiction of fractals, as also the writer who gave their best self to write a story based on Math.
The second best was the relationship between teacher/students; being a teacher myself, I saw teens' behaviours that I too faced at school, so, well depicted that too.
I loved the music. Specially the instrumental one that was covering the series. Excellent job.
The actors, now. Male lead and female lead, well done, too. A bit off the change of heart of the mean director at the end, but not that much over the top. Also, well pulled by the second leads.
These said, I strongly recommend Melancholia to those who like to think while watching.
I will definitely read Hardy's 'Apology of a mathematician'.

Thank you for reading this, I hope you found it helpful..

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Underrated Exceptional Drama

I would like to thank the reviewers who provided reviews that made me interested in this drama. I would have overlooked this at first glance but thankfully I did not thanks to the reviewers of this drama. I don't even know how to categorize this or feel like I can do it justice with this review; it is unique and stands on its own. It is unlike anything I have seen so far and it is beautifully written, acted, and unfolded slowly like a butterfly spreading its wings for the first time.

Is it an easy subject matter? NO. This touches on controversy that may make some flinch and perhaps contributed to some of the lower ratings. I think the writers and producers tried to tread carefully in some respects with the relationship between the ML and FL and allowed it to slowly develop later on when the ML is older. This is not a superficial love story or a light romance, the gist of it is about two people who find each other because of their passion for mathematics and support each other despite the odds.

I love how mathematics was weaved into this story and showed the passion and love they both had for it that transcends ego, pride, and competition. It is about the purity and exhilaration in participating in the process versus just reaching for the end game. In some ways it is a parallel to their story, the complexity of their situation and their relationship.

Beautifully flawed but elegantly told.

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Not For Me

Melancholia is one of those shows which I’ve tried to wait out from beginning to end because I hate dropping dramas.
However I’m at the point now where I’m not sure if I can watch much more.

Honestly I love the actors and the concept certainly seemed interesting initially but there isn’t anything really hooking me. The characters’ decisions and actions feel entirely controlled by plot rather than a reflection of what they’d do and the pacing seems to be a bit off also.

Maybe I’ll give it another go at some later stage but for now this isn’t one I’m going to watch going forward.

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......

Hum....si vous m'avez déjà lu, vous savez peut-être que j'adore les romances de Noona. Plusieurs de ce type de drama ont été de sacré coup de coeur ces derniers mois et je suis partie sur celui-ci après avoir lu les critiques élogieux. Cela ne sera pas mon cas. Je comprend pourquoi ce drama a pu plaire à autant de personnes. La photographie est très jolie et la réalisation soignée. L'OST est agréable et colle plutôt bien à l'ambiance générale du drama. L'histoire était intéressante et s'attaquer au système scolaire afin d'en dénoncer les dérives n'est pas nouveau mais fonctionne toujours bien. Le jeu des acteurs sans être incroyable est plutôt d'un bon niveau et j'avoue que que sur cela, je n'ai pas grand chose à reprocher.
Alors pourquoi, n'ai-je pas du tout accroché? Mon coeur ne s'est pas du tout emballé.
Pas une seule fois.
Malgré la beauté de certaines scènes, je me suis profondément ennuyée.
Les reproches que je pourrais faire sont étonnants, vu que j'ai adoré au-delà des mots "One and Only". La lenteur du drama a été une horreur. Je n'ai absolument rien contre la lenteur d'une histoire, comme je l'ai dit j'ai adoré "One and Only" alors que la romance est lente et qu'il ne se passe quasi rien dans ce dernier.
Mais ici, la lenteur ne serait pas un problème si l'écriture des personnages avaient été plus dynamiques. Que l'un des personnages soit d'un naturel calme, apportant une quiétude reposante, donnant cette impression de sérénité, pourquoi pas. Mais les deux protagonistes sont ainsi. Il n'y a pas selon moi une balance équilibrée, puisqu'ils aiment la même chose, ressentent la même chose, voient la même chose et prennent le même chemin. Il n'y a alors pas de complémentarité. Pas de balance. Il n'y a pas le jour qui succède à la nuit, la lumière qui sourit à l'obscurité. C'est ce qui m'a gênée. Le couple m'a ennuyé, ils étaient trop semblables. Je n'ai pas vu d'étincelles ou de scènes faisant battre mon coeur à un rythme fou. C'est joli, mais vide.
L'autre point négatif....les personnages secondaires. Ils étaient tous plus ou moins horribles....nos protagonistes naviguent quasiment seuls dans ce monde apparement fait d'humains égoïstes et centrés sur leur problème et leur ambition. C'était ennuyeux de ne pas avoir de personnages secondaires apportant une petite touche d'humour, de folie, de loyauté, de fidélité, de compréhension, de tolérance.... Je n'ai pu que ressentir qu'agacement et frustration.
Les parents étaient tous d'horribles personnes imbus de leurs progénitures, les professeurs tournant les yeux afin de ne pas voir...nous devenons au final spectateurs de la lâcheté des uns et de l'avarice des autres. Je n'ai pas aimé être témoin de cela...

Mon avis, qui peut paraitre dur, n'est que le reflet de ce que je cherche continuellement : être heureuse quand je regarde un drama.

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They weren't even trying at this point....

I legit deadass no cap on god fr fr went into a cardiac arrest from cringe and ended up in a vegetative state when the male lead pulled up the 128√e980 move. I dieded! They were so close to pull a 80085. Anyway, this was a wasted attempt on a decent concept. Not recommended!

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Great story, very intriguing premise

Really interesting presentation of mathematics and the relevance they have on life, but it unfortunately felt trivial as it could have easily been music or chemistry instead. Some of the characters were the standard cliche chump or villain, such as the cliche witch-like laugh with thunder strikes in the background. The soundtrack was fantastic with well chosen songs and the instrumental pieces created a deep atmosphere. Ultimately it was more interesting as someone who appreciates math and a nice romance, but it still felt a little off. I'd definitely recommend watching it once, maybe even a second time some years down the road.

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Hooked from the 1st episode!

Mind you this is the first time I'm writing a review. Honestly, I'm not the type to get hooked on dramas that easily given the fact that I've been watching them for 6-7 years some of the plots are easily seen or repetitive. This one though got me hooked from the first episode and I finished it right away, in fact I only got 2 hrs of sleep or less watching this.

Story: The romance between the main characters was greatly written. The corruption going at school, how the students dealt with the corruption, how justice was served. I know some comments were on the morality of the show given some people claim it was a teacher/student relationship but truthfully the romance if you can even call it that only begins after they are adults (yes the student falls in love with the teacher but a relationship between them when the student was in high school never happened) and like I said it's not even romance there is a lot of moments where "the romance" is portrayed but personally looks more like pinning (there is like one kiss/peck scene at the very end)

Acting/Casting: The chosen cast was great. They all nailed there characters from beginning to end. Especially, the antagonistic characters where you absolutely couldn't help to hate them.

Music: Honestly, I didn't pay much attention to the music which is why my rating on that is low. It didn't really grab my attention or anything like that (this is just my opinion).

Overall: You shouldn't let yourself get influenced by the opinion of others. This was a great drama and you should definitely give this a try.

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New story , Out of Box approach in kdrama i ever watched, MUST WATCH!!!

I don't know why many negative comments about this drama in the comment section(It's not like it never happened in our world ) made me hesitate to watch it but thankfully I gave it a shot for Actor Lee Do Hyun(18 again,youth of may) and Diretor Kim Sang Hyub(Extraordinary You,True beauty)in the end I'm Amazed!!. I have watched 311 Dramas so far never seen this type of approach for mathematicians in any dramas i watched ,also story line is bit different than other romance dramas. Are you bored watching regular romance dramas with the same buildup between lead roles??? Then this is definitely for you. First of all big kudos to "Lee Do Hyun" and "Im Soo Jung" for choosing this script, especially Lee Do Hyun after giving outstanding performance and a hit dramas like "18 again" and "youth of May". He decided this script which shows his braveness and gave phenomenon performance in this.Now he is in top 5 fav actor in my list after this drama.He's choosing different genres and story line which is impressive for a starter and his acting level is awesome.Everyone in this drama acted so well which is very positive to this drama and made viewers more interesting and held onto their seats. Big thanks to the screen writer Kim Ji Woon did a great job here after "Doctor John" .I dont want to be a spoiler so I'm not revealing much about the story but you wont regret watching it in the end......Give it a shot!!!!

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