KDrama Review : Itaewon Class

Title : Itaewon Class

Episodes : 16

Genre : Melodrama, Tragedy, Drama, Romance, Business, Friendship, Slice of Life, Youth

Story : 6 out of 10

Characters : 7 out of 10

Cinematography : 6 out of 10

Korean Drama Itaewon Class started with a bang but screwed the ending up.

The characters of the Korean Drama Itaewon Class

Story

Sae Ro Yi was a student who dreamed of becoming a police officer. However, due to the rich CEO of a popular restaurant-bar chain, Dae Hee, and his son Geun Won, he is expelled. And things get even worse when Geun Won kills Sae Ro Yi’s father in a car accident and Sae Ro Yi is sent to prison when he goes after him. Years later, he is back, opening a pub at Itaewon. The pub, DanBam, isn’t very successful, however, it still poses a threat for Dae Hee, who only wants to destroy Sae Ro Yi. The two of them will go head to head in a battle where only one will come out alive.

Itaewon Class had a strong start. The story was filled with melodramatic events, and the hero hit bottom before getting back up and starting his plan for revenge. The bad guys were intriguing as well, and had nice antagonistic chemistry with the male lead. The drama did a good job with the pace at that point. The presentation of Itaewon and the new characters were just perfect as well. With that said, the characters of Itaewon Class were quite original for a Korean drama. They were different and gave the drama a boost to explore more themes that other dramas don’t usually approach, like racism and gender identity. And they did a good job with those, being sensitive and, overall, pretty realistic about them. However, by that point, it was obvious that the drama lacked depth. The characters were never really explored deeper than the surface and they had no character development. The bad guys were left in paper really, as it was said that they were undergoing criminal activities, but, as far as the viewer is concerned, they were left in the behind the scenes. Though, the revenge plot was well concluded and quite satisfying.

However, the biggest problem that the drama had was the pace. They kept spreading things up into the future, skipping months and years, a practice that cost the characters any relationship built, the romance solid moments and the plot a convincing development. Especially the fourteenth episode was the worst one, as they were rushing things up to get the viewer on the same page as the story. That meant badly edited shots of business action, laid one after the other, an emotional realization that didn’t really make any sense, and a quick recap of what the characters have been doing all those gap years. So, the audience is robbed from watching a smooth progress of the main character succeeding and getting what he wanted. The romance was one of the victims as well. The couple didn’t have chemistry, to begin with, and the speed up into the future didn’t help it at all. The love story was forced to happen in the end and it was hard to root for it, as they had hardly any moment together.

The two main characters of the Korean Drama Itaewon Class

Characters

Sae Ro Yi is a man who sticks to his values no matter what. He helps those in need and only sees the best in people, even if that costs him. He is determined, patient, and he aims to succeed. Sae Ro Yi was a nice character for the first part of the drama, as his personality and views were likable and the viewer and easily sympathize with him. However, he had no development after that. That lead to him being boring at times and just an empty cell in others. Still, Park Seo Joon did a great job with him and his performance was flawless.

Yi Seo is a young woman who falls in love with Sae Ro Yi, even though they are completely different. Yi Seo has been told since she was little that she has the potential of being a psychopath and she has taken that by heart, acting as she wishes, being ruthless most of the time, having a sharp tongue with everyone, even grown ups and living a life full of risks. She is, however, pretty good in everything she does, and a social media celebrity. And, even though her mother is against her not going to a university, she decides to use her talents in order to make Sae Ro Yi successful. Yi Seo was a pretty cool character, a strong woman with strong opinions. And it was nice to see how she was learning how her attitude and manners weren’t always the best as she believed. However, she didn’t seem to have chemistry with Sae Ro Yi. Nevertheless, Kim Da Mi was simply perfect.

Soo Ah met Sae Ro Yi when his father brought him along to help at the orphanage where she lived. Even though Soo Ah always tried only to survive and didn’t care about anyone else, she gets close to Sae Ro Yi, who falls in love with her. Years later, she starts working for his enemy, in an attempt to get herself somewhere. However, meeting Sae Ro Yi again makes her second think her decisions. Nara had one of the most contradicting characters. She can be hated and loved at the same time. Nara, for her part, was really good as Soo Ah.

Poster of the Korean Drama Itaewon Class

Cinematography

The drama did a mess with the final episodes and didn’t handle all the characters well, but the soundtrack was pretty good and some scenes masterfully filmed.

Overall

My overall rating for Itaewon Class is 6 out of 10. Though the drama had a strong start, towards the ending it started lacking.

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