Completed
Love River
1 people found this review helpful
Apr 10, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

THIS IS A STUDENT/TEACHER DRAMA | DON'T WATCH IF YOU'RE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH IT

Unfortunately, viewers are giving the drama bad ratings because of the type of story it contains.
But this doesn't make sense, because from the description you can think that it'll contain something in that regard.

This is a beautiful story come to life by great acting. This is a Student/Teacher story, BUT NOT inappropriate at all in our eyes. We interpreted it as them having mutual respect for each other and love for math whilst in school. Please do give it a try, BUT only if you're comfortable with this type of relationship. We're not going to give spoilers. We will however say that this was a hidden gem we're glad we discovered.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Ongoing 8/16
Melania Cruz
19 people found this review helpful
Dec 4, 2021
8 of 16 episodes seen
Ongoing 13
Overall 4.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 1.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

“A Melancholic Fail”

The listless and uninspiring female lead Im Soo-jung, who apparently has been in the entertainment industry for 20 years and has surprisingly won a Best Actress award in the past, is the reason why “Melancholia” is a melancholic flop for me. It’s baffling how, after all the many years of experience and exposure she has had, she displays this level of “lazy acting” that is really burdensome to watch. Her aura here is very much like her demeanor in “Search: WWW” - unappealing and dreary. Her face is lifeless and devoid of any expression no matter what emotion she’s going through. She is enormously outshined by junior cast members and a wrong match for the powerful acting consistently shown by the male lead Lee Do-hyeon, who is much younger and less experienced than her. This awful mismatch is a major distraction and the main reason why I’m giving this drama series a low rating.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Dropped 13/16
Architectofnonsence
4 people found this review helpful
Dec 23, 2021
13 of 16 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 5.0
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

plot that failed horribly just after a good start

It started with very good two episodes or so that's it then it became just normal crush from a teenage kid with sad past and good teacher that helped him overcome his grief then it became an obsession from the student towards the teacher then it backfired on them both ,, the teacher didn't do anything wrong , may be she overlooked the obsession that the kid developed towards her because she liked his mathematical brain ,,, then the drama suddenly jumped four years into future and the kid became adult so now he's allowed to love his teacher ,, he couldn't find her so he became a teacher himself to avenge her from the people that wronged her , ,,, of course that's not smart at all from math Genius then he find his teacher is doing the same but from far hahaha then he started chasing her again ,, they went round and round each other with no affair or love scenes or any actual romance it became dull and very boring turned into revenge plot that is failing too
By the way ,, the first few episodes they tried to make math fun and enjoyable to learn but the writer lost his IQ on the way didn't mention math or did any smart moves after that hahaha
so after 13 episodes all we got is a very annoying characters who are very bad towards each other and two main leads who are lost and trying to get back at the bad people but failing miserably that's it
You won't get anything from this drama but what i've said above
good luck

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
PHope
1 people found this review helpful
Jan 14, 2024
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Melancholia '' is a school drama.

The series has a dark academia feel to it, with the two leads truly engrossed with their science, being in love with math and willing to make new leaps in their field.

The school drama, in addition, was neat, even though, halfway through the drama, got boring and some twists were being repeated. The romance, on the other hand, was nicely handled and was subtle, though the love triangle was forced.

Nevertheless, the characters of the drama were interesting to follow and had chemistry. The performances by everyone in the cast were smooth and nicely executed as well.

So, overall, six out of ten.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
lilmakandcheese
0 people found this review helpful
Dec 31, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 7.0

Engaging, interesting, and romantic in a non-traditional sense

This is my first drama review, and the reason why I decided to write one is because I would love to increase the rating of this show. Without any spoilers, this story spans years of uncovering a corrupt school system that benefits the rich and silences those who challenge the system. But it's also a love story, but not just romantic. I initially started watching it because of the noona-romance premise, but this is honestly not the best description of the love described in this show.

It's a love story about friendship between and among generations of educators, students, and mathematicians. It's a love story about minds that understand each other without ever having to physically interact to stimulate passion. There's no insta-love or insta-lust in this story. It's love in a really pure, innocent form.

I usually don't care about the politics in Korean dramas, and I typically avoid them and stray toward rom-coms. BUT, since the politics were interwoven so intimately with the main characters, you had to follow along with the politics to see how it would affect our MCs. So it didn't feel draggy (though I did skip many of the political conversations in the first 6 episodes,) But once the time jump occurred, following the politics became necessary to understand how our MCs would achieve justice for what was wronged. It was actually pretty interesting and I found myself skipping the political scenes less and less the more our MCs got involved. And by the end, I was cheering whenever something was uncovered.

This is not a traditional "romance" drama with lots of physically affectionate scenes. But this is a romance of minds, of understandings brought by healthy communication (by the end, at least), and of the idea of found family. Please give it a shot. I'm so glad I did.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Crazy about Asian dramas
0 people found this review helpful
Aug 4, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 6.5
This review may contain spoilers

story is good but plot ?

when i read the story ,i loved the concept but when i watched the drama i didn't find myself connected with the plot because with the starting of the drama I didn't see any happiest movement. It started by introducing the main characters , a teacher who is genius in maths and preparing students for some type of competition who had been living with her boyfriend and on the other side a boy who also genius in maths but always kept himself hide frome others . Though he was
sit among the students in a class but never been noticed . Then one day the teacher identified his talent and try to pursue him to take part in the competition but due to his scary past he never wanted to show his talent . Then the teacher helped him to overcome from the past and slowly slowly everybody came to know about him . After the entry of powerful people who were trying to destroyed the teacher and the student's careers . They post their(student and teacher) such pictures which had shown that something was going between them ,may be they are in relation and then many things had happened . At very last of the drama had shown that everything had been solved and they had a happy ending .
i really felt melancholy all the time . All the time sad and sad happened between the main characters. even the background were sad .
i knew the story was about tragedy conspiracy and jealousy and accordingly the music had been given but not even single episode of happiness . In one of the scene the leads went to the beach there also though for the characters they are spending good times with eachother but still i felt melancholy. Literally who has patience to watch the drama till end i recommend this to those.
But i will say the story is good because it had shown how powerful people make the use of power to destroy other person's life because of their willful wish.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
kdramadreaming
0 people found this review helpful
Jan 9, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

Beautiful Math

Melancholia (2021)

Likes
1. I loved the first 6 episodes when they were still in high school. But episodes 10-13 dragged. They could have cut some of the scenes and made the drama shorter.
2. Loved the relationahip between Seung Yoo and Yoonsu. You can really feel how much they love math. Too bad the present time was focused on the corruption/revenge and not a lot of math.
3. I liked Si-an. 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 more than Yerin (she always had this sour face the entire time and was too stubborn and to admit her mistake).
4. Second time to see Jin Kyung play the baddie and i love it. She is so elegant but that maniacal laugh is scary (but not Cheon Seojin level). I also find the feud between the sisters interesting and i was actually rooting for Jungah not Yeonwoo.
5. I also liked Sungjae. I actually wished he and Yoonsu will get back together.

Dislikes
1. I never liked math so although this drama made math sound so beautiful and interesting, i still got lost with all the metaphors about math.
2. I felt that the romance wasn't needed. They could have ended as best friends or teacher-mentor and it still would have been a great ending.

Rating: 8/10

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Ongoing 2/16
DP13
31 people found this review helpful
Nov 13, 2021
2 of 16 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.5

It seems and feels like a toxic show but it is not. Give it chance.

After watching the 2nd episode i know this drama is off to a good start.

From the beginning there is a romantic air between main leads but i think thats just it,i dont think they will portray anything ROMANTIC before the time skip.

For anyone who is avoiding this drama thinking its a Pedophilic drama or for normalizing cheating on spouse, Dont do it.

The Cast is absolutely stunning with Im So Jung and Lee Do Hyun and many others. The story is about misunderstood scandal and corrupted private schools, not pedo romance.

Even though I'm just a few episodes in, its a good drama with great acting.

DONT AVOID THIS DRAMA THINKING ITS JUST A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Ongoing 2/16
TheRomanoffs
22 people found this review helpful
Nov 16, 2021
2 of 16 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 9.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.5

Beautiful tribute to math

Usually I don't write a review but I really needed to do it this time.
Unfortunately I think society is not ready for this type of content, nevertheless this is, until this last episode, a beautiful tribute to math, and a excellent representation how parents and schools are most of the time cutting wings from students due the amount of pressure and strict methods.
Above all, as a neurodivergent, I feel that this is a beautiful representation how our mind works.... The focus, the passion, how we see things.... It's hard to explain but they surely did a great job.
It's a shame that people are too focus on a future relationship between them (that supposedly is going to happen when they're older), ignoring what's really the focus of the story.
It's also a shame the double standards, because in Goblin she was also a student, but didn't have 1/10 of the criticism this one is having.
Society is clearly not ready to this show yet, but it's still a beautiful story nevertheless, so please consider watching it with a open mind, who knows, you may actually enjoy it a lot!

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Sknez
0 people found this review helpful
13 hours ago
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 7.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 4.0
This review may contain spoilers

Overall not bad!

I didn't mind the relationship. I don't know why people leaving comments are outraged about that. People crush on their teachers all the time and no one actually acted on it at the time. But, I didn't like the actress. She's kind of irrelevant past the beginning. I get she had a tough time, but she's just miserable and boring. I have no idea why any of the men like her. She talks like she's half dead. But I did enjoy parts of this drama. The math. The lead actor. Principal Noh. She does a great job being evil. The overall kdrama is worth a watch. I always like a good revange story!

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Ongoing 2/16
vishnu menon
11 people found this review helpful
Nov 12, 2021
2 of 16 episodes seen
Ongoing 26
Overall 5.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 2.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

The title of this drama is wrong it should be PEDOPHILIA.

Watching 2nd ep. until now weird to ship an engaged woman with a high school kids. Let alone the other characters in drama, looking at the way the high-school kid and math teacher being shipped together in the absence of her fiancé and her blatant not being interested in him mentality screams the idea of cheating and possible cheating and PEDOPHILIA. Do not forget my emphasis on the word "possible", i am not saying he's her love interest but, that is how it is made to look.
Also, i do not understand y the makers of K-drama has to showcase women being uninterested in the current spouse as normal thing? I mean, if u r not interesting in marriage or getting married then y let urslf reach that stage in the first place? Nobody is forcing u to marry that particular person. Stop waiting for sm1 btr and until then sticking around with current option. If u don't like it then just leave. Don't indirectly normalize cheating. Be honest to urslf and ur partner. Atleast, ur partner then can find someone btr than u.
Also, in the first episode itself we know who most probably is going to be painted as the villain here, it most probably has to be her current fiancé as always.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
achuland
3 people found this review helpful
Feb 9, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

......

Hum....si vous m'avez déjà lu, vous savez peut-être que j'adore les romances de Noona. Plusieurs de ce type de drama ont été de sacré coup de coeur ces derniers mois et je suis partie sur celui-ci après avoir lu les critiques élogieux. Cela ne sera pas mon cas. Je comprend pourquoi ce drama a pu plaire à autant de personnes. La photographie est très jolie et la réalisation soignée. L'OST est agréable et colle plutôt bien à l'ambiance générale du drama. L'histoire était intéressante et s'attaquer au système scolaire afin d'en dénoncer les dérives n'est pas nouveau mais fonctionne toujours bien. Le jeu des acteurs sans être incroyable est plutôt d'un bon niveau et j'avoue que que sur cela, je n'ai pas grand chose à reprocher.
Alors pourquoi, n'ai-je pas du tout accroché? Mon coeur ne s'est pas du tout emballé.
Pas une seule fois.
Malgré la beauté de certaines scènes, je me suis profondément ennuyée.
Les reproches que je pourrais faire sont étonnants, vu que j'ai adoré au-delà des mots "One and Only". La lenteur du drama a été une horreur. Je n'ai absolument rien contre la lenteur d'une histoire, comme je l'ai dit j'ai adoré "One and Only" alors que la romance est lente et qu'il ne se passe quasi rien dans ce dernier.
Mais ici, la lenteur ne serait pas un problème si l'écriture des personnages avaient été plus dynamiques. Que l'un des personnages soit d'un naturel calme, apportant une quiétude reposante, donnant cette impression de sérénité, pourquoi pas. Mais les deux protagonistes sont ainsi. Il n'y a pas selon moi une balance équilibrée, puisqu'ils aiment la même chose, ressentent la même chose, voient la même chose et prennent le même chemin. Il n'y a alors pas de complémentarité. Pas de balance. Il n'y a pas le jour qui succède à la nuit, la lumière qui sourit à l'obscurité. C'est ce qui m'a gênée. Le couple m'a ennuyé, ils étaient trop semblables. Je n'ai pas vu d'étincelles ou de scènes faisant battre mon coeur à un rythme fou. C'est joli, mais vide.
L'autre point négatif....les personnages secondaires. Ils étaient tous plus ou moins horribles....nos protagonistes naviguent quasiment seuls dans ce monde apparement fait d'humains égoïstes et centrés sur leur problème et leur ambition. C'était ennuyeux de ne pas avoir de personnages secondaires apportant une petite touche d'humour, de folie, de loyauté, de fidélité, de compréhension, de tolérance.... Je n'ai pu que ressentir qu'agacement et frustration.
Les parents étaient tous d'horribles personnes imbus de leurs progénitures, les professeurs tournant les yeux afin de ne pas voir...nous devenons au final spectateurs de la lâcheté des uns et de l'avarice des autres. Je n'ai pas aimé être témoin de cela...

Mon avis, qui peut paraitre dur, n'est que le reflet de ce que je cherche continuellement : être heureuse quand je regarde un drama.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Melancholia (2021) poster

Details

Statistics

  • Score: 7.7 (scored by 6,673 users)
  • Ranked: #4289
  • Popularity: #742
  • Watchers: 20,827

Top Contributors

112 edits
95 edits
43 edits
36 edits

Popular Lists

Related lists from users
All Time Favorite Dramas
684 titles 1706 loves 35
Noona Romance
508 titles 276 loves 16
tvN Dramas
324 titles 183 loves

Recently Watched By