God of Study

Hey Everyone!

So, prior to talking about my most recent drama, I just wanted to share a bit of good news. First, I finally found a job, and second, I got re-admitted into Medical school. I know that I rejected med. school once, but it is nice to still have that option. Either ways, I am really happy to be working at a medical clinic and it is close to home as well. Anyways, enough about me, I will talk about the drama now. So, I finally finished another drama. To be honest, it took me a while this time to even find one that I like. Majority of the dramas that I want to watch, are still in the process of finishing production, so I figured that I would watch an older one. I attempted to watch Winter Sonata (both drama and anime), but I just knew it was going to get really depressing, so I stopped. I ended up reading the review for it instead. There are some really good ones out there. Anyways, after a few days, I finally started God of Study. It was an excellent drama, and worth a watch definitely. It did not have the typical lovey dovey stuff, but it had cute little romantic encounters here and there. However, the main plot did not revolve around love, rather about some delinquent kids that have a goal, to get into the best school in S. Korea (remind anyone of Gokusen a bit?). The story mainly started with Kang Suk Ho entering his former high school to help the school train 5 students to enter Chun-Ha-Dae University. SH had troubled teenage years but one teacher really looked after him. Due to that teacher, he was able to go to University and even become a lawyer. So, he decided that he would enter the his former high school, and change things, so that the troubled kids could have a proper education. He entered the school initially because he was trying to prevent the school from being sold to a company, and having to send the students away. However, in order to do that, he had to make an agreement with the Director of the school (awesome fashion sense!) to teach 5 students and send them to Chun-Ha-Dae University (one of the best/perhaps the best school in S. Korea). Most of the teachers laughed it off, but SH believed in the students, so he signed the contract. His conditions were to find the 5 students within 3 days and to make sure those students are in the 70th percentile by the pratice exam time. So, the drama took off, as SH searched for the 5 students. He had approached Kil Pul Ip, Oh Bong Goo, Hwang Baek Hyun (so good looking!), Hong Chan Doo (very cute), and Na Hyun Jung (Ji Yeon from T-ara). After he finally enlisted them, he brought in a few teachers of his for the vigorous training; Cha Ki Bong (if any of you watch animes, doesn't he look like Jiraya from Naruto?), Anthony Yang (hilarious), Lee Eun Yoo (really intruiging character), and Jang Young Shik for math, English, Korean literature, and science respectively. Each teacher taught not only their subject, but life lessons as well. Throughout the drama, there were several training camps and obstacles for the teachers and children. It was a well-made plot since it showed great character development for both teachers and their students.

What I liked mainly were each individual character's story and how they overcame their individual struggles. All of the kids had some sort of family issue. PI, had a bar-hostess mother that fell in love with a married man. BG came from loving parents, but always told him that he did not need to study since he probably did not inherit good brains from them (lacked motivation). BH lived with his elderly grandmother, since his parents passed away when he was very young, and so living expenses were difficult to come by (so he had to work to make some income). CD, though he came from a rich family, they had too many expectations from him, and he just was not interested in studying (rather dance). Finally, HJ, came from a relatively rich family, but lived on her own because of her ill-relationship with her parents (they kept their distance, but sent her money). Throughout the drama, each character matured, by learning that studying and going to school would help them overcome many obstacles in life. It was a great "slice of life" drama because it showed the struggles of many types of kids, not just one. There were also little side-love-stories involving HJ, BH, CD, and PI, as well as SH, Han Soo Jung (the assistant teacher to the special class), and the Director. The love triangles were never really resolved, but it was nice to see that the focus of the drama was more on their studies and futures, rather than just finding love. These were high school kids, and they needed guidance in life, rather than finding their soul mate. So, all-in-all, I gave this drama a 4.5 out of 5 stars because I really liked the plot. I only took off a 0.5 because of a few unresolved issues. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this drama. I would definitely recommend it because it was relatively light hearted and enjoyable.

A few side notes were (may include spoilers):

- HJ originally started as an annoying character, but I loved how she became dark (I hope Ji Yeon plays a dark character in Dream High 2 as opposed to a cutesy one)
- I loved the OST "Because I'm Weary"
- Does anyone know the songs that were playing in Ep. 12 (MVs)?
- Does anyone know the type of puppy that was shown on Ep. 12?
- It was nice to see SH's emotional side at the funeral
- LoL at the goofy smile at the end from SH
- the unresolved issues: Who ended up with who?, Did PI's mom return?, Does HJ still remain alone at the end or did the teacher stay with her?

That's it for now.

I'm off,

- B