Title : Moment at Eighteen, Eighteen, At Eighteen, 18 moments
Episodes : 16
Genre : Youth, School, Bullying, Romance, Drama, Tragedy, Coming of Age
Story : 6 out of 10
Characters : 6 out of 10
Cinematography : 8 out of 10
Moments at Eighteen started strongly but ended up weakly.
Story
Jun Woo is the new transfer student. He is shy, unsociable and quiet. He is, in other words, an easy target for the rich and spoiled students of his new school. Hwi Young is the perfect model student. He is the class’s president, an A student, the one who helps his classmates with notes and class supplements, and the king of the class overall. However, he is constantly under pressure to be perfect by his family and social circle. And when one of his school mates scores better than him, he takes all his anger out on the new kid, until he manages to force him to transfer again. Especially since his first love and best friend, Soo Bin, takes a liking in Jun Woo.
The drama had a strong start. The themes that dealt with were touching and the whole mood was melodramatic and emotional. It actually felt more realistic and intense. The love story was cute and innocent then too, with a fresh feeling to it. However, towards the ending, the drama got boring.
First of all, they forgot most of the characters in the show. That’s why it seemed like they were used only to fill in the gaps or to aid with the romance. So, in the end, their stories were left open and without a conclusion. Also, the story about Jun Woo’s best friend and his tragic ending was forgotten as well. It seemed too significant at the time and a turning point for the main character and yet it was that easily pushed under the rug. Finally, the romance was not well concluded either. It actually had gotten boring and too cliché, but still, there were at least some cute moments here and there. But, the final result was just not good enough.
Characters
Jun Woo prefers to live as a wallflower. He keeps running away from trouble and from life itself. He has only one friend, with whom he grew up when his single mother was working to support them. That friend is the only person he wants to protect. However, when he reaches eighteen, he realizes that he had enough. He doesn’t want to keep running but to live as a normal teenager and fall in love. Ong Seong Woo’s first drama as an idol actor was a good first start. His performance wasn’t bad and he had chemistry with most of the cast of the drama.
Soo Bin is a girl who is trying to bring her mother’s dreams into reality. However, she feels that she is not good enough. Her dreams are actually different from the ones her mother has for her. Kim Hyang Gi is a childhood actress, so she knows how to act. And Soo Bin’s character suited her well.
Hwi Young is the perfect student. However, his family’s pressure to become the best crashes him. School is his kingdom and Jun Woo is threatening to take that away from him. So, he tries to chase him away. Shin Seung Ho played one of the best performances of the show, even though he was the “bad guy” of the drama.
Cinematography
The drama managed the pace nicely and they had some nice shots that helped with the intensity of the drama a lot.
Overall
My overall rating for this drama is six and a half out of ten. The start was pretty amazing but it got tiring towards the ending.
K&J Reviews 
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