For a simple high school drama, Monstar is surprisingly re-watchable. The plot of idol musician Yoon Sul-chan being forced to attend high school despite his "But I'm a star!" attitude makes for a lot of funny social interactions. There's the girl who remains unimpressed, his elementary school buddy-turned-enemy and the different social stratas of high school society - all competing for Sul-chan's mental energy and limited emotional space.
As Monstar was the first drama series produced by music channel Mnet, expect a lot of musical interludes and "Let's put on a show!" situations.
If this description has driven you off, don't leave Monstar quite yet. These kids all have broken emotions lurking under their cool or nerdy personas and teasing those true emotions out from the silly high school situations makes this a lovely, sentimental journey. With idols! And Kang Ha Neul as a second lead!
Lead girl Ha Yeon Soo really blossoms as the new girl to school and her soulful acting brought out the (limited) best of idol lead Yong Jun Hyung from Beast. And, have I mentioned Kang Ha Neul? Another actor I'd like to see more of is Moon Yong Suk as the class president and talented pianist Ma Joon Hee.
Music wise - this was the first OST I ever bought and it is great.
Rewatch - well, I watch an episode or two almost every week. It's not complicated, the young cast is quite charming and the music is great. Give it a try!
Was this review helpful to you?