Drama Review : 후아유 - 학교 2015 (Who Are You - School 2015)

Yay, I'm back with another drama review after a pretty long time \(^.^)/ I wanted to cover this review around 2 or 3 weeks ago but I must restrain myself because I had exam! To pay off for the late review, this time I'll try to cover as much aspects as possible so that you can decide whether you want to watch this :) So, let's get down to business!

First Impression:

The first few episodes were, I must say, pretty confusing. This is most probably because the producers are trying to give us as much sneak peeks for the upcoming mysteries in the upcoming episodes. Even so, the drama was interesting enough to engage and make us wanting to know more :)

Flow and Plot : 

The flow of the drama is pretty good. Each episode will build momentum to important moments and have us craving more for the next episode. The scenes are appropriately entwined together to make a coherent story without rushing to the climax and the answers to all doubts within the 16 episodes. They also slip in adequate amount of romance, fun, angst and everything in between. This creates a more realistic feeling for the school-life oriented drama :) 

The plot is pretty interesting and surprising at times. Despite the all too common memory-loss fiasco, it is still good. That is actually the key for this drama to be interesting :)

 I don't want to share too much about the plot because it will ruin the whole mysterious vibe of the drama. But yeah, the major plot and the minor plots are equally important to make this drama a huge success (at least I think so :p)

A little (official) preview, if you like one (or two): 

or 

Characters : 

I will review only the most important characters. Well, I'm not saying that the other characters are not important but these people got the spotlight most of the time. I must say that the casting was really good. Even the minor characters also stole a bit of my heart and make me sympathize with them. Ok, let's get going. 

1) Lee Eunbi/Go Eunbyul (Kim Sohyun)

Lee Eunbi is the main protagonist of the story. Very meek and demure girl, loved by many around her. Her gentle predisposition makes it very easy for everyone to be comfortable around her. Despite that, she is a resilient person who stands up for the right thing to do.

Go Eunbyul is tough. She's very straightforward and has a strong sense for justice. Almost the exact opposite of Eunbi except for the fact that both have the heart of gold. Has the knack of hitting people who annoy her on the head. 

I must say Kim Sohyun did a superbly great job on delivering both characters. Despite the fact that the characters that she must portray are polar opposite, she stayed consistent throughout and knew exactly how to set apart the two. As expected from a child actress, a job well done (y)

P.S : a slight makeup change goes a long way ;)

2) Han Yi-an (Nam Joo Hyuk)

Childhood friend of Go Eunbyul. A very charming swimming prodigy (*hint hint*). He's a very considerate person + a filial son. Not only that, he is loyal especially to those who he loves ♡ (What more can you ask from a guy?)

I can safely say that Nam Joohyuk is a rookie model-turned-actor since this is only his second drama production. Despite that, I don't really see a lot of awkward acting except when needed. He's obviously a show stealer (my friend fell for him). The perfect choice for the charming Han Yi-an indeed! :D

3) Gong Taekwang (Yook Sungjae)

He's that one wacky character from this drama. However, behind that heck-care and careless demeanor, lies a complex character: someone who can sincerely love but is broken at the same time, someone who thought he can hate others with all his life but is too soft-hearted to do so and ending up forgiving them. 

I dare say Gong Taekwang is a character with the most development. Throughout the drama we can see how he grows from the plain wacky character to someone who becomes one of the key characters of the drama. The complexity of Gong Taekwang's life story is (for me) actually one of the main interesting parts in the drama, his life tugs at my heartstring :')

I am glad that Sungjae landed this character for his early career as an actor. This shows his capability as an actor. I was a bit pleasantly surprised by his performance. So yup, good job Sungjae! You are climbing up my bias list :p

Soundtracks : 

Omaigad. I love EVERY SINGLE ONE of the soundtracks ♡. All of them appropriately enhance the atmosphere of the scenes. It's been 2 weeks and those songs are still on repeat (I especially love the more ballad-y songs) ! Check them out on the official distributor account :) 

Overall Impression : 

Standing true to its title, this drama is about school life and the drama surrounding it. Plus, the main issue in this drama is about finding out the main character’s identity and more subtly to find out all the characters true self. It is a great school-life drama with an extra twist :)

The first few episodes were rather draggy but overall the drama was very engaging and interesting. The thing that impresses me the most is that the last episode somewhat mirrors the first episode and make a lot of references to previous episodes. I’ll leave you to find out more about that. It’s very enthralling really.

I hope you enjoy the review! To end off, a precious lesson from the drama:

괜찮아, 열여덜살이니까

It's okay, because you're still 18 years old

P.S. All pictures are from the KBS homepage :)