Extracurricular (2020)

Extracurricular

This drama was on my watchlist for too long, and when I finally decided to watch it i didn't expect it to be that good. The story was interesting and refreshing. This is unlike any high-school dramas I've seen. Extracurricular also gave me the vibes of "how to buy a friend" and "parasite".
Unlike most dramas, extracurricular had a very dark plot. Its well written, there were no plot holes in this drama. The acting was amazing, Kim dong hee as oh ji soo, the quiet and invisible kid at school but also the villain in his story. Park joo Hyun did a great job as well, her being bae gyu ri, another lunatic. Both of them had similar problems, 2 teenagers surrounded by no one but still wanting to lead a decent life. Once you start this drama, you wouldn't be able to stop.
I have no regrets or complaints about this drama, even though the ending left us with a cliffhanger but I still enjoyed it. I would be even more excited if there was a second season coming.

Lire davantage

loved it

I must admit that at first, I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the drama, while I did know what it was about I could never predict how the season was going to end. How one small detail could change everything although everything seemed to be perfectly under control. I thought I could predict what was going to happen next, but I couldn't. I found the ending very hard to predict, although it perfectly made sense. Very well thought.

One thing I also liked was what the characters were like. None of them were the good guys. Ji Soo was a kid who chose to follow a dark, immoral and illegal path in order to deal with his financial problems, and Gyu Ri was selfish and manipulative, while in most dramas the main characters are the good guys who have to defeat the bad guys, this isn't the case here and it was something I really enjoyed to watch.

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I'm going to be really honest with this review: I gave this show a 9,5 because there are some things I'd have liked to get an explanation to. Nevertheless, it really overcame my expectations. I had high ones because people were talking really good about this drama and I can tell you already that it's one of the best of the year, people are not lying.

I have to say, though, I'd have liked it better if the OST were more varied. I didn't really pay that much attention to it since the storyline really had me inmersed and hooked, though, so I'd say this isn't that big of a deal.

Overall the acting was amazing, the facial expressions were on point and the way it was filmed gave it a really different vibe from what we're used to, driving way more attention to body language and letting us discover ourselves what the character is feeling and/or thinking.

For me it has always been difficult to finish a lot of dramas after episode 8 more or less, I start to get easily bored and I just don't feel like watching anymore. I don't know if it's because this one is only 10 episodes, but it was so easy to watch... I was always wanting more at the end of the episodes and even now that I've finished the drama I'm still wanting more, so I really hope there will be a second season.

Last, but not least, this is a dark drama. I don't usually watch this genre but I did and I ABSOLUTELY loved it. I don't regret anything. 'Extracurricular' is not the typical crime drama we're used to. Netflix is a whole different story, they just care about getting the audience hooked and interested and I can assure you they do! The fact that our lead is directly involved with the crimes makes it a whole different experience, at least for me. I do have to say there's a lot of bloody scenes, so keep that in mind.

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Extracurricular é um drama sul-coreano com 10 episódios com 1 hora de duração, transmitido em abril de 2020. Foi produzido exclusivamente para a Netflix pelo roteirista Jin Han Sae.

A primeira impressão que temos é que Oh Ji Soo tem notas perfeitas, nenhum deméritos ou advertências, tornando-o assim o filho que toda mãe gostaria de ter. Porém, a família dele não poderia ser mais imperfeita, visto que foi abandonado e mora sozinho. O que restou para ele foi não ter grandes ambições, sua única intenção é se formar e ter uma vida normal, mas para isso ele precisa de apenas uma coisa para atingir todos os objetivos: dinheiro.

Ser o perfeito aluno nerd faz com que Ji Soo seja invisível, chato e longe de ser suspeito sobre o que realmente faz às escondidas. Mas é Gyu Ri, com sua popularidade, inteligência e jeito dissimulado que descobrirá que ele está escondendo um enorme segredo ao serem colocados no Clube de Problemas Sociais da escola. O mundinho calmo e bem recompensado financeiramente do garoto cai por terra quando ela rouba o celular que tem o aplicativo de proteção e agendamento para prostitutas.

Citação: "Ele é calmo e quieto, um bom exemplo para os outros. Um aluno exemplar que raramente causa problemas."

É preciso alertar que por mais que o drama não tenha cenas explícitas, aborda assuntos que vão de tráfico sexual, violência, síndrome do pânico, suicídio e críticas sociais relacionadas à jovens e adultos.

A chantagem e os problemas que aparecem dá uma reviravolta na trama e fica mais claro notarmos a verdadeira índole dos personagens. As meninas que Ji Soo "toma conta" sob o apelido de "tio" começam a correr perigo se ele não aceitar Gyu Ri como parceira nos negócios. Num primeiro momento achei a Gyu Ri com uma áurea bem sinistra, mas depois parei para pensar, vi que o Ji Soo não era totalmente inocente por mais que ele passe essa impressão com seu ar inocente.

E vai por mim, depois disso sua cabeça não vai parar de girar. Eu questionava todas as cenas. Em vários momentos senti que meu julgamento sobre as questões de moralidade abordadas estavam sendo testadas ao máximo. Por mais que eu me distanciasse continuava não sabendo que destino dar aos personagens já que envolvia vários tipos de crime. E quando me perguntava: "O que faria se fosse comigo?", a pergunta ficava sem resposta. Personagens imperfeitos com sua ambiguidade sempre trazem desconforto e temos isso de sobra dentro da trama.

O Sr. Lee é o adulto na situação, bem contraditório, aliás. No entanto, é ele quem protege as meninas e as tira de várias enrascadas, mas o modo como se importa muito com a Min Hee é bonito. E quando entendemos o motivo dela fazer o que faz é mais revoltante ainda, já que o motivo envolve o Gi Tae, o namorado ridículo dela. Relacionamento esse, que além de tóxico, é autodepreciativo. A relação complexa entre o Sr. Lee e a Min Hee com diversas vertentes: cafetão, cliente, funcionária e protetor não deveria inspirar tantos cuidados por parte de ambos, mas é. E novamente, a linha entre o certo e o errado volta ao debate, pois a amizade sincera deles é muito carismática.

Eu amo dramas escolares, mas não estava preparada para o que encontrei. "Extracurricular" passa bem longe do convencional, e foi bom esse diferencial. A proposta aqui é como os jovens solucionam seus problemas e quais meios escusos usam, onde a maioria tem uma vida fora do comum, falam palavrão, fazem bullying e são fanfarrões. A crítica social e o dilema moral são gritantes. Com certeza, nem todo mundo irá gostar devido ao sangue e violência gráfica, além de abordar a prostituição.

Creio que a possibilidade de escrever algo com um alcance internacional deu ao roteirista a "permissão" de inovar, algo que só conseguimos ver bem nos filmes coreanos, - pois eles mesmo consideram como um outro tipo de entretenimento -, nunca nos dramas que são politicamente corretos. Mas o escritor foi bastante consciente com um alerta de ajuda aos jovens que estiverem passando por algo parecido em todos os finais de episódio.
Assim como nos livros, sou apaixonada quando o título se relaciona com o conteúdo que encontramos. Extracurricular é tão cheios de nuances, sarcástico e intenso. Em nenhum momento soa desinteressante e ainda consegue mexer com o seu psicológico, pois cada episódio tem uma boa dose de apreensão e suspense.

Houve notícias de uma segunda temporada por insatisfação de alguns no modo como termina o último episódio, mas nada foi confirmado até agora. E gosto assim, pois adorei o final. No entanto, o roteirista Jin Han Sae foi novamente selecionado para escrever algo exclusivo para a Netflix. Ficamos no aguardo de que Glitch tenha um suspense tão bom e impactante como Extracurricular.

Se mesmo assim, você ainda está com receio/medo de assistir, indico que tente primeiro "Everthing and Nothing" no Kocowa, tem um tema parecido só que mais levinho. Porém, se for se aventurar, é uma boa escolha e não haverá arrependimentos.

A fotografia é bem sombria, o que dá a trama o que propõe desde o início a intensidade necessária. A música de abertura fica grudada na cabeça, além de outras músicas americanas que são inseridas em diversos episódios. E uma facilidade para aqueles que não estão acostumados com o idioma original coreano é que "Extracurricular" conta com dublagem desde sua estreia. Não há desculpa para assistir.

Lire davantage

I never once thought 'They could have done that better.'

Wow. Whatever you'd expect from a TV series about teens committing crimes, you can scrap it. This was intense and stressful and filled with drama and danger but also not far fetched or cliche in some eye-rolling way. There are no masters of their trades here, just regular people who are doing regular crimes and trying to keep their heads above water. Except for Mr. Lee, he's a BAMF, no contest. From start to finish it's a fantastic show, from feelings of wanting to strangle Gyuri and Oji's dad, to wanting to strangle Kwakkie, Minhee and that cop lady, and to wanting to strangle and comfort Oji in equal turns. Then wanting them all to just calm TF down and have a snickers bar. But also not, because stuff gets crazy and when it all sets off, it's awesome. It was entertaining all the way!

And the acting was so fantastic! Great casting all around. The show also had some nicely executed humor, which is always good, every show, no matter how dark, needs some humor.

Over all, I wouldn't change a thing, I never once thought 'Eh, they could have done that better', because everything was written, directed, acted and produced so well. If there is no second season, I won't even be mad, it has a solidly satisfying ending as far as I'm concerned.

Great show!

Lire davantage

Story- This is a purely western type of plot so to see the more conservative East Asian (S.K.) market diving into this subject matter surprised me and also pleased me (not everything needs to be a ridiculous rom/com or a frustrating cop procedural). Having characters all with questionable morals so you can't root really for anyone, I like that because that's how real life is. No one is perfect and these characters portrayed that. I can't stress this enough when I say that the tags will tell you if you can handle this kind of story. So watching strictly for your oppa/ noona... I honestly don't recommend that.

Acting/ Cast- Speaking of portrayals O_O OMG EVERYONE did an amazing job: Donghee and Joohyun SLAYED their roles- SLAYED!! They are the main characters but they sure made it hard to like them at times. The casting director did an outstanding job choosing these young stars and I can't wait to see more of them.

Music- It did what it was suppose to and set the mood. With certain scenes I would become more anxious and I realized it was because of the music showcasing that particular scene. The opening/ closing credits were the same song and it fit well.

Would I rewatch this? Not to say this is a bad drama, because it isn't, but I tend to not watch dramas again esp one that had me on the edge of my seat- the original thrill is gone.

Lire davantage

A true crime masterpiece.

THINGS I LIKED
(+) Unique story with non-cliche scenes or tropes
(+) Great acting
(+) Dark and true crime concept (this may be a negative for some people)
(+) Complex characters and development
(+) One of the few dramas I would compliment on a great ending

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
(-) It felt a bit slow during 1-2 intermediate episodes (this is very minor)

REVIEW
Where do we begin? This series takes you on a journey. If you are a fan of true crime and don't mind a darker concept, Extracurricular is one to watch out for. The main characters we follow in this drama are designed beautifully complex and believable - particularly our mini Bonnie and Clyde leads, that is, Oh Jisoo and Bae Gyu Ri.

The synopsis kicks off with a slightly confusing first episode. For a long while, I wasn't clear of the illegal activity being engaged as well as understanding GyuRi's character and motivations. However, once you reach the third episode, the plot really starts to pick up and you can just sense some major storm foreshadowing your way. This story is written and executed really well with minimum downtime or fillers. Expect to feel more and more tense after each episode as this plot takes our characters down the rabbit hole further and deeper.

This is a story about two high schoolers whose background and life experiences had driven them to enact illegal crimes. They are not the people we should root for in reality but we somehow want them to succeed in this drama so very badly. In terms of romance, it's quite subtle for a kdrama but in this case, I find this approach to be very fitting. This story fundamentally shows how far a person can go to achieve their own dreams despite the action may appear to be out-of-character or the potential harm it may cause to others. This is very noticeable in the later half of the show especially in the ending. I won't say anything more about the second half other than it is just a diamond in the rough. One of the best endings I have seen in a kdrama where most tend to fall short on.

Lire davantage

VERY RAW STORYLINE AND CHARACTERS, BUT WEAK LEAD CHARACTERS.

It was an okay show with a very different storyline then other Kdramas. It didnt hold back at all and it was very raw and real. The storyline was interesting and the side characters were really good but the two main characters were just not it. I couldnt really like any of the characters, they were pretty annoying most of the time (all exept than Mr Lee). The best thing in this drama is the relationship between Mr Lee and Min Hee, i believe he was like a father to her and they both felt it even if he never admit it. The male lead wasnt so bad or annoying, but the female lead ruined everything for me, i was about to stop it because she was just so annoying but the side characters just kept me.
Not your average kdrama.
Hope it has second season cause the ending was just not an ending and i hate it.

Lire davantage

Unconventional K-Drama

'Extracurricular' is a whole rollercoaster. It took me 2 days to finally decide to write this review because this drama is a lot to sink in and process.

It starts with what looks like a simple high school story with your regular poor main lead who struggles to make friends and live a normal life after his parents abandoned him, and then turns to be a dramatic and crazy story with bits of Tarantino.

As a film lover, I must say 'Extracurricular' exceeded my expectations considering this is a K-Drama. I've watched all genres of K-Dramas but never have I ever seen one dealing with such deep topics from the perspective of high schoolers. If you've watched many dramas too, you'll know that Koreans are very reserved about how they portray high schoolers, since they're still children, and you'll mostly only see criminal/taboo behaviors from high schoolers in K-Movies. So, to see the characters of this amazing show deal with topics like prostitution, explicitly about minors, or sex trafficking was pretty much a shock. I know this didn't air in public or cable TV, hence why it was much more detailed and censorless, but still kind of shocking.

One thing that annoys me a bit from TV dramas is that whenever there's a smoking scene, there's always someone who takes the cigarette out of the hands of the person that was supposed to smoke it and turns it off, or they just show the back of the person smoking it. However, we saw high schoolers with cigarettes turned on and actually smoking it, teenagers talking sexually about body parts, being fully aware of sexual stuff, being criminals... The unconventional nature of the show really surprised me and left a great feeling on me.

I love the way they developed the story. I hadn't been as annoyed and frustrated about every character in a show in so long, and 'Extracurricular' made it possible for me to hate each and every single character on the show, except from Mr. Lee and the teacher. Every other character was absolutely stupid and frustrating, and oddly that's one of my favorite things about this story; that the characters are completely unlikable and annoying and there's little to no personal development on their personalities at all and I see this from the POV of someone who values personal development the most in a show. The fact that this story didn't take them anywhere good gives you a bittersweet feeling and you start wondering, "was it really necessary?" about almost everything that happens. You question the logic of these characters and wonder why can't they simply use their brains wisely. And to me, this created a really remarkable story.

Oh Ji Soo is the most stupid male character I can think of from a K-Drama, but since his personality is somewhere in the middle of a genius and a dumbass, I can only say he's actually a genius. Bae Gyu Ri is a nosy girl that ends up uncovering a pimp business that offers security to prostitutes and ends up ruining the whole thing for O-ji. I can't say I didn't hate her 90% of the drama and wanted to get in the screen and slap her face so bad. She's pretentious and selfish, but I liked the way she cared for O-ji. They both made a dangerous, yet great couple.

Overall I don't want to get into details as I don't want to mark this with spoiler, but I'll just say I loved the unconventional and unique ending that they gave us. My review is only positive, but there still were some things I would've improved about the casting and role of certain characters so I'll give it 9/10.

PS. I loved the nightmare scenes, especially the one about Seo Minhee. All the nightmares are among my favorite representation of a dream in a show.

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