I have been waiting for this drama just nearly as much as I had been waiting for Big Bang's MADE but with a difference. Big Bang are K-Pop 'seniors' and Moorim School is mostly composed of 'juniors'. I didn't entirely grasp or agreed with the casting in the beginning, the same way I didn't grasp 'Loser' or 'Bae Bae' but it grown on me as the story and the characters finally took shape in my head, making it real like the moment I watched 'M' music videos. You get the picture right?
Did Moorim fullfill all my expectations? Yes and no. Yes because I wasn't disappointed neither was I depressed most of the time and no because I wanted those 4 episodes I felt KBS denied us viewers of due to the appalling ratings to put it mildly. I also wanted a Big Bang concert in Europe and that didn't happen either. On the other hand 'A', 'D' and 'E' were brilliant. After all 'If You'...'Let's Not Fall in Love'!
I bought into the premise of the story as much as I bought into the premise of 'MADE' being released in parts, I always had something to wait for and it was going to be totally worth it but it wasn't, not in the beginning. I thought the drama had a slow start and 'M' was too far off my reality and I couldn't identify myself with any of it, regretfully. Supernatural, adventure, martial arts, quests...great but what about the rest? What about the pace? What about the dynamics? What about the connection with the viewers? With the audience? It wasn't there! The beginning was simply bland for Moorim School.
Then came the intangible metamorphism like new personal discoveries, personal development... knowledge. Moorim School seemed different from the usual trademark of K-dramas so I was flabbergasted with the criticism, the ratings and the reception the drama had.
I liked the story, I still like the story albeit still mulling over the rushed end and the lack of pace in many episodes considering it was know far ahead of time that the drama was going to be shortened to 16 episodes, giving the writers ample time to kick-start the drama's dynamics and elevate it, proving critics wrong, proving KBS wrong, proving themselves wrong but they didn't. They seemed resigned to doing 16 episodes as if the drama was still going to have 20 episodes and giving us viewers who spent 16 hours of our time glued to the screen, an understatement drama that was just passable perhaps due to their defiance towards not reinventing the last episodes and make it 'Bang Bang Bang'. There was no 'wow Fantastic Baby', almost as if each of the writers felt like a 'Loser' in Bae Bae's music video which in the end they probably were.
The acting was average, nothing special but to be brilliant would be to expect Big Bang to sing Opera in hypothetical attempts. With practice it's achievable without it, well 'Haru Haru'!
Overall it's an enjoyable drama for those that like the story and relate to the characters, otherwise 'MADE' DVD will be a nice alternative to it. Add the music videos, the interviews, the extras and so forth and you can spend 16 hours of your time being a VIP. The choice is yours!
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