lee do hyun

The Glory Part 1 and Part 2 (2022)

by maandoe

Profile:
Drama: The Glory (더 글로리)
Network: Netflix
Episodes: 8
Release Date: December 30, 2022

Drama: The Glory Part 2 (더 글로리 파트2)
Network: Netflix
Episodes: 8
Release Date: March 10, 2023

Plot:
High school girl who got severely bullied in high school seeks revenge 18 years later on the people who ruined her life.

Main Cast:
Song Hye Kyo – Moon Dong Eun
Lee Do Hyun – Joo Yeo Jeong
Lim Ji Yeon – Park Yeon Jin
Jung Sung Il – Ha Do Yeong
Park Sung Hoon – Jeon Jae Jun
Kim Hieora – Lee Sa Ra
Cha Joo Young – Choi Hye Jeong
Kim Gun Woo – Son Myeong Oh

Review:
Wow story was fast paced and the acting was briliant. The whole revenge plot was perfectly developed and executed by Dong Eun, and the best part is she didn’t even have to get her hands dirty. She merely exposed their sins, and they destroyed each other.

My fave scene of SHK was when she found out her mom betrayed her again and they had their argument in the apartment and the mom started the fire. Plus the last episode when she was crying after everything was done and she was at the rooftop.

I also loved the 2 male leads, cute puppy doctor Yeo Jeong who would do anything for Dong Eun and the hot ahjuicy Do Yeong who probably would have pursued Dong Eun in another life (my alternate ending).

Yeonjin was so bratty and self entitled all through out. I can’t believe the nerve of her! She bullied kids, killed 2 people, yet she refuse to admit them, and is even the one getting angry when caught. She had no remorse at all!!! How was she able to raise a precocious daughter without her evil side showing?

The other bullies were also evil – 1 is mute (i actually pitied her), 1 is in prison (should have been worse), 1 got killed, and the Jaejun the most annoying one became blind and pushed off into a cement area. Plus Yeonjin’s mom, the corrupt detective, Hyeon Nam’s husband, ugly haired pervert teacher. Lol everyone got punished!!

I Also loved Hyeon Nam. Hope she gets a chance to go to the US and see her daughter.

Son Myeong O’s disappearance went on for too long when he was obviously dead. And it was obvious who had the most motive to kill him, yet the writer tried to prolong the reveal by giving other characters possible motive.

Instead they could have focused on finishing Yeo Jeong’s revenge on Yeong Cheon and showing the couple moving forward and living happily together.

Side note. Dong Eun and Yeo Jeong can do a crossover with the Rainbow Taxi Squad to get their revenge. Lol. I can imagine Kim Doki and Moon Dong Eun plotting already!!!

Rating: 9/10

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Melancholia (2021)

by maandoe

Profile:
Drama: Melancholia (멜랑꼴리아)
Network: tvN
Episodes: 16
Release Date: November 10 – December 30, 2021
Runtime: Wed. & Thu. 22:30

Plot: A misunderstanding of the close relationship between a student and teacher led to a scandal that ruined the career of the teacher and the student dropping out of school. Four years later, both of them goes back to school to seek revenge and expose the corruption in school.

Main Cast:
Lim Soo Jung – Ji Yoon Su
Lee Do Hyun – Baek Seung Yoo
Jin Kyung – Noh Jung Ah
Jang Hyun Sung – Sung Min Jun
Shin Soo Yeon – Choi Si An
Choi Dae Hoon – Ryu Sung Jae
Woo Da Bi – Sung Yerin
Kim Ji Young – Kim Ji Na

Review:
I never liked math in school but this drama made math sound so beautiful and interesting. However, since I don’t understand all the theories and concepts (the formulas they were studying were too complicated!!!), the point of the mathematical metaphors about proving and errors went lost on me. Still, I loved the first 6 episodes when they were still in high school and we saw relationship, which at time, was purely student-teacher, blossomed. You can really feel how much they loved math. Seung Yoo had a traumatic childhood with scary father, and for the first time, there was an adult, his teacher who listened and encouraged him and made him want to love math again. On the other hand, Yoon Su is loved by her students. She is compassionate and makes learning fun and challenging. Of course, being young, it wasn’t a surprise that Seung Yoo fell for his impressive teacher. I thought going on a trip with a male student is wrong and Yoon Su put herself in scandalous situation, without thinking of the consequences or his fiance. When Yoon Su discovered a potential cheating during the midterm exams, the jealous female student together with her assemblyman father and the corrupt principal decided to expose Seung Yoo and Yoon Su’s relationship to bury the their own scandal.

Starting episode 7, the story moves to the present time (which is four years later). We learn that the school continues to be corrupt, with students still as spoiled and terrible as ever. Seung Yoo dropped out of school, studied hard and won a Lucifer prize, becoming a very famous mathematician, while Yoon Su hides behind a math clinic with very strict confidentiality clauses for its students. Turns out, both of them have been planning to seek their own revenge against the principal and expose the decades long corruption. Episodes 10 to 13 dragged with so many useless scenes, i wish they cut them and made the drama shorter.

Similar to 4 years ago, there is another brilliant student, Si-An, whom I loved. She may be an orphan but she grew up well, is smart, happy and is tough to stand against Jina and the bullies. I also liked Jina later on (she was a b*tch for most of the episodes) but she was actually nicer when she met Seung Yoo and Yoon Su. It was very had to like Yerin. Since high school until present, she always had this sour face and was too stubborn and to admit her mistake. Her scenes were also boring, she just kept “stalking” and making sad eyes to Seung Yoo and blaming other people for her life. Again, it was Seung Yoo and Yoon Su, who made her realize that she was being manipulated by the adults and it was time to stand up on her own.

This is the second time I saw Jin Kyung play the baddie and I love it. She is so elegant but that maniacal laugh is scary (but not Cheon Seo Jin level). I also found the feud between the sisters very interesting. They were both bad people – Jung Ah is supposedly worse that Yeon Woo, and yet I was rooting for Jung Ah to win over Yeon Woo.

I also loved Sung Jae. He made a mistake not being brave enough to defend Yoon Su during the scandal, but I’m glad he finally found the courage to be like Yoon Su and expose the corruption. I actually wished Sung Jae and Yoon Su got back in the end. I thought he was a nice guy.

The drama ends with another time jump (not sure how long) but Seung Yoo and Yoon Su meet again the same way they did years ago (through a math group chat). But this time, Yoon Su finally accepted Seung Yoo’s love and they kiss. I felt that the romance wasn’t needed in the story. They could have ended as best friends or teacher-mentor and it still would have been a great ending. But the romance wasn’t the main story.

Rating: 8/10

Youth of May (2021)

by maandoe

Profile:
Drama: Youth of May (오월의 청춘)
Network: KBS2
Episodes: 12
Release Date: May 3 – June 8, 2021
Runtime: Mon & Tue 21:30

Plot
Set in the 1980s during the Gwangju Uprising, this is a story of a girl and a guy who fell in love against all odds. Will they be able to hold on to their love or will they end up in tragedy?

Cast
Lee Do Hyun – Hwang Hee Tae
Go Minsi – Choi Myung Hee
Geum Sae Rok – Lee Suryeon
Lee Sang Yi – Lee Soo Chan

Review:
I already saw a lot of spoilers before I started watching so I think it took a bit of enjoyment from watching this drama.

Beautiful ending. It was sad but still beautiful. It took him 40 years to finally move on 😭 cant imagine how that feels. But im happy they found her so he can always visit her when he misses her.

As always May has come. this is the 41st year of May since I lost you, Myeong Hee. All this time, my life felt like swimming during a rising tide. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move forward, and I even tried to let myself drown. But when I woke up, that tide had pushed me back, to that May inside my heart. It felt so cruel that I lived in resentment.

For a very long time, I lived in regret and thought throughout my life. If I hadn’t gone to Gwangju in May of that year. If I hadn’t met you in Gwangju. If I hadn’t let go of your hand in those woods, would you still be alive? But on this 41st May when you’ve finally returned, I now realize that I was the one who chose to do all that. In May of that year, I chose to go to Gwangju, and chose to love you with all my heart.

I prayed everyday that worse pains in life would come to me instead of you. If I had been the one to die in the crossroads of life and death, and you had lived, you would’ve experienced the tides that I had experienced all this time. The life of the one who was left behind. Hence, I’ve finally realized, that what I experienced all this time, was the Lord’s way of answering my prayer. Those lonely and painful 41 years were merely my love for you.

The remaining years of my life, will be an answer to your prayer. No matter how many more times the rising tide pushes me back to that May, I have you here now. Until we meet again, I will swim against the tide with all my might.

All through out i kept thinking whose fault it was. I’d say they were too young and made emotional decisions. If they more more mature they probably wouldn’t have died. Had Hee Tae stopped pursuing her, Myung Hee could have gone to Germany and lived. Or Hee Tae could have married Suryeon to appease the family and live separate lives. Or he could follow to Germany in a few years. But I also came to the same conclusion as Hee Tae. They chose to fight for each other so although it was hard, they made that choice and they have to live with the consequences. At least they had that May that he will always remember. Better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all.

I, Kim Myeong Hee, refuse to be buried alive with Hwang Hee Tae. Lord, if something unexpected happens, and we have to let go of each others hand please dont let the sorrow overwhelm the lives of those left behind. Even if the tears we shed fill up to our chins, please dont let us drown and give us the power and courage to swin safely throughout this life.

Looking back, I think the one who is at fault is Myung Soo. Lol. I know, he was too young and didn’t mean to do it. But later on he must have realized he basically killed his dad and sister in one night because of his foolishness. Maybe that’s why he ended up being a priest.

Mixed feelings about Suryeon. She was mostly selfish which is weird since she is brave protesting against the government but she cant even protect her best friend. But I think it’s not her fault — Hee Tae would have met and pursued Myung Hee even without the blind date. And i didnt feel enough remorse from her over Myung Hee even in the present, she was nowhere to be found, just a brief statement that she is now a lawyer.

Myunghee’s dad 😭😭😭 and all those brave and innocent people who died that time. 🙏

Myeong Soo said this to me one day. That the runner who runs way in the front does nothing but block the wind for the others. He said it was your loss if you stood in the front from the beginning. Perhaps I lived my life always in the front, blocking the wind with my whole body. I was that runner who was in the front. I was afraid you’d be hit by the wind like me. What if your wings were hurt from the hardships of this world? I hoped you wouldn’t stand in the front like me and always tried to hold you back. But your wings were strong enough to endure any kind of wind. If I just let you go you would have ridden the wind and flew up high into the sky. Since everything that happened wasn’t your fault, just leave it behind with me. And from now on, let your wings carry you freely wherever you want to go.

I wish the ending was longer. i wanted to know what happened to them 40 years later and how they feel about what happened. And where is Soochan?

Rating: 8.5/10