We live in an age where social media plays a very important part in people’s lives. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and whatever else is out there, nearly everyone seems to have at least one of these, and more often than not, even more than one. It never fails to surprise me how easily some of the younger generation give highly personal glimpses in their day to day routines. Don’t get me wrong, I am not going to play a judge here, as I always believe everyone has the right to decide what they wish to share on their own. But it’s the dangers that go along with it, that sometimes really scare me. What if something that you share falls into the wrong hands? Or even worse is used against you in a horrible way? And how about how easily some people’s opinions might be influenced by the power of a certain statement. I don’t think this social behaviour is any more apparent then in high school. Nearly every kid wants to be accepted by the popular ones, and as such belong to the group they hang out with. And usually they pretty much determine what happens in class. These underlying themes form the basics of the Korean dramaseries, Solomon’s Perjury.
On a cold winter morning in December, the lifeless body of highschool student Lee So-woo is found by one of his fellow classmates in front of school. The school and the police are convinced that he took his own life. But then a student comes forward claiming to have been a witness to his murder. The school is in an uproar and wants nothing to do with it, quickly dismissing the claim. Especially seeing as the suspect for the murder, the school bully Choi Woo-hyuk, is the son of a man that has always been very supportive of the school. But not everyone is so easily swayed. Go Seo-yon, the class president, wants to find out exactly what has happened to Lee So-woo and devises an ingenious plan to get to the bottom of things: a schooltrial. She takes on the role of prosecutor and together with a couple of other students she will stop at nothing to make sure justice will be served. But then a young man called Han Ji-hoon, who attends another school, steps up to act as the defense attorney for Choi. Just who is he? And why does he want to defend someone who has been causing so much pain to others? The answers to these questions, and many others, are about to be revealed……
I’m going to be honest: this one hit close to home. In a big way. It brought back some pretty unpleasant memories from my own days as a highschool student. Having been on the receiving end of bullying for a lot of years, I know what it can do to someone’s state of mind. And how much you at certain points would love to take revenge on the people that caused you pain. I am not a hateful person, and always try at least to see the good in people. But there have certainly been points during my schooldays where I wished some very unpleasant things would happen to my tormentors. And that’s what I really liked about this show, as it not only looked at bullying, but also what might drive someone to become a bully. And is it really fair to blame everything on that person? As such this is not an easy series to watch, as it not only deals with that, but also with the equally tough subject of suicide. But why did I continue watching it then? Because it never becomes too heavy and it really is an incredibly good series with some stunning performances.
The storyline for this is quite unique. The idea of a schooltrial is something I have never seen before and you would think that this might just be very laughable. It’s not. It’s every bit as compelling as a real courtroom drama, and the story has some very nice twists and turns. It soon becomes much more than just finding out whether or not Lee So-woo has committed suicide or not. There is a lot more to the story, but of course I’m not going to head into spoiler territory so I will just leave it at that. The acting in this drama is quite impressive, and besides a few moments of overacting by some of the supporting cast, really is one of the other reasons that this series works so well. Kim Hyun-soo plays the role of Go Seo-yon and really is the driving force of this show. She is both charming and very serious at the same time, and is utterly convincing as the prosecutor. She is one of those characters that is determined to find out the truth, and will never give up no matter what.
But equally impressive is Jang Dong-yoon who plays Han Ji-hoon. As an audience you know more about him than the other characters in the series, but at the same time you don’t quite know exactly what drives him. And it was really interesting to see when the reveal came to see what his real motives were at the end. Overall this show impressed the hell out of me. The overall themes and the way they were executed made this a very compelling watch. Let me be clear that this is not an action series. It really is a legal drama, and while there are certainly some tense moments, this series is more of slow burner. It is driven by the incredible verbal exchanges by the two main leads, and there are moments in the show that you don’t exactly know who to root for. As you want both of them to win. Be aware that the themes in the show can be tough to watch, especially if like me, you might have had similar experiences. But in the end it’s presented in such a great way that I am truly glad that I have watched it. This concludes my review for the third drama for my Korean Dramas theme month. If you want to watch this show you can watch it for free on the legal streaming website Viki.
I give Solomon’s Perjury a 9 out of 10 score.
I like anime but I can’t do Korean dramas
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Haha, that is really not a problem at all 😊 But maybe, just maybe, you haven’t seen the right shows yet 😀
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Maybe 😊
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My first question was gonna be; where can I see this? 😎
I haven’t seen any Korean tv/movie but I have always thought that I would want to. I read a lot of manhwa (and this sounds like a manhwa I have read 🤔) and I am intrigued. This might be too heavy to start with? I do like the premises of it.
I am sorry to hear that you were bullied. 😔 I have experience to of bullying but the girls way; being left out and talked about, called names. I am happy internet didn’t exist when we were young. At least then you could get at break at home. Now the bullying continues right when you come home and turn on your computer. 😔😒
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Haha: yeah, there are many people who want to start with Korean dramas but don’t know exactly where to watch them. That’s why I thought it would be helpful to provide a link. The fun thing is this website is legal and focusses solely on Asian series, so you can find many others besides this one.
Hmm…difficult to say. This certainly isn’t an easy show, but as I said it never becomes too heavy. That said, to choose this as your first entry in the world of Korean dramas might also not be right 😊 If you want some advice on other series: let me know 😀
I’m sorry to hear about the fact that you have had similar experiences. Kids can really be so cruel. I at one point reached the conclusion that people should accept me for who I am, and if they didn’t it’s their loss. Things became much easier after that 😀
But so true, the things you at times see happening on social media is especially horrid. Glad, as you say, that wasn’t around in those days. It was tough enough so to speak 😢
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It is very helpful. 😊 I now some of the illegal sites have their asian drama sister sites but I have never been that interested to look them up. It wasn’t until I started to read manhwas I started to think about it and then FaceBook sort of plagued me with the trailer for this series: https://www.viki.com/tv/33538c-while-you-were-sleeping that i started to think for real.
We started to watch Train to Busan last weekend but the file we downloaded from iTunes was too heavy for our NAS so the computer had to work way too hard so the movie lagged. A new download is done so we are doing a new try soon. That’s the closes I have come to Korean drama. 😆
It is a good way of thinking. I wish I could have thought like this back then. I think I closed myself off instead. Found my thing with my music (I played horn and piano) and enjoyed the praise I got. At least I was good at that and people appreciated that and needed me. It wasn’t until in my 20s I started to think that “If you don’t like me then don’t, I don’t really care.” I am who I am, you are who you are, and everybody can’t always like each other. Simple as that. My philosophy on people these days. But I always give everyone a chance.
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Yeah I try to avoid the illegal sites myself as much as I can. Sure it can be annoying at times to no being able to see certain shows that you really want to see. But on the other hand I still have so much stuff on my list, that I am never without anything to watch 😀
Ooh…actually that show you saw the trailer for is on my to watch list as well. In fact it might even be the next one that I am going to be watching.
Cool: Train to Busan is the best Korean movie that I have ever seen. It is not only a good zombie flick, it really is a great movie. Definitely think you are going to enjoy that one 😀😀
I did that for a time as well. Even back in those days I had a lot of hobbies, and those really managed to keep me sane. In the end though I thought why should I close myself off, and simply started living again. And you are so right: why should you care about people that don’t like who you are. It’s better to invest time in people who do like you 😀😀
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If I can’t find something legal I rather download it than use illegal streaming sites. Then at least the third part doesn’t earn any money. But as much as I can I pay for what I watch. But some things are impossible to find. (read boys love. There aren’t really much places to find those. And old stuff isn’t easy to find legally either.)
We got so far as to when they just board the train and we realise pretty fast that the cheerleader will become a problem. 😎 Well, just the fact that a deer turns into a zombie, that is cool. So yeah, I look forward to watch it.
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That really is the most annoying part, not being able to find older stuff, or shows that you really want to see. It almost makes it way too tempting in that way to start downloading.
Ahhhh…okay than if you got to that point, the really good stuff is about to start. I hope you will enjoy it: it really has been my alltime favorite Korean movie to date 😀
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She wasn’t a problem. I was relieved to see that. But, I wasn’t prepared for the emotional turmoil the movie created. I have never cried this much during a zombie movie. 😔 It was so good. And the little girl, what an amazing actor. And the others too. I loved it! 😊
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I was just about to turn off the lights here, when I saw this comment appearing, and I just had to reply to it 😀
I’m so glad you enjoyed this one. The emotional turmoil in this film, is totally what made this one work so well. I’ve never seen a zombiemovie that managed to really get under your skin as much as this one. I completely agree: it’s one of the things I said in my review for it as well. The acting by the young actress is stunning. Amazing for a child her age to act like this.
Did you know that this movie has an (animated) prequel for it as well?
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I had no idea! But now I want to see it. 😎🤗
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It’s called Seoul Station. I have yet to see it myself (I bought it on dvd weeks ago, but haven’t seen it yet 😊).
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Oh, I am gonna see if I can find it. Where do you find this to buy? Amazon? Other places, preferably on internet. 😎
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I bought mine in the store: but you can find on Amazon as well. And I just looked it up for you, so here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Seoul-Station-English-Subtitled-Blu-ray/dp/B071SLJQ79/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1516530468&sr=8-2&keywords=seoul+station 😀
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Thank you! We don’t have any proper video stores here. I live in a tiny city with only one store selling videos and they have only the most popular videos.
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You are welcome. Well, we do have dvd stores here, but they usually don’t contain much anime. This dvd was an exception mainly because it was a very popular movie worldwide, which is why it received a much wider release 😊
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Our video store might have Train to Busan since it has gotten alot of attention. So perhaps they actually have the animation also. 🤔 Maybe I should pay them a visit? It is always so satisfying when you find something in a store to take home immediately. 🤗
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Haha: yeah honestly I love “real” shopping much more than online shopping. It’s always cool to browse through the bins and find something new and unexpected 😀
Perhaps you should pay them a visit, as you say, the movie got quite a lot of attention, so I would not be surprised if they had it for you (and, will keep my fingers crossed for this as well 😀😀).
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Sounds intriguing Michel.
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It really is. It’s one of those shows that will keep you glued to your seat until the final episode while at the same time enjoying some great acting performances 😀😀
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I agree with what Fraggle said!😍 This does sound rather intriguing!
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It really was Dani. Despite the very heavy subject matter, and the fact it also brought back some unwanted memories, I still really loved this series and what it eventually did. It was an amazing watch from start to finish 😊😊
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I’m so sorry about the unwanted memories but I am glad you enjoyed it
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Thanks for sharing as well!😍🌹😘🌹😘
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Really no problem, and thank you for the support and your never ending kindness ❤❤😗😗
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Same to you, sweetheart!😍💜🌹💜🌹
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Awwww 😘❤️
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Stop giving me so many Korean dramas to put on my list! XD
This one certainly looks to be right up my alley and has jumped to the top of my next television binge. I like the premise, I like how ludicrous the situation is and the narrative weaving you say goes on could make it just the courtroom drama/mystery I need. I don’t know whether to thank you for another interesting work to put on my list or curse you for making that list longer XD
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Haha😂😂 Oh man this comment cracked me up. I really am sorry, you are allowed to curse me, I can take it (I have my protection spells always close at hand 😂😂).
But yeah, this one certainly was a compelling watch. It starts of a little slow (hence the slowburner part), but it really becomes a very good series. Both because of the story and the great acting.
Hope you will enjoy it, and 1000 apologies. I hope they are enough 😅😅
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Sounds like a show I would enjoy. I have recently acquired a taste for court cases, as I was selected for jury duty last week. It was an eventful experience, although deliberating for hours (with just a cheese roll to sustain us) wasn’t much fun.
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Wow, I can understand that being a very eventful experience indeed. We have a completely different legal system over here, so we don’t have things like jury duty at all.
So to hear about the food though. Only a cheese roll to sustain me would make my stomache very upset.
But yeah, this was a really good series, and if you like courtroom drama this one really is quite unique. I hope you will enjoy it 😊😊
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I know you mentioned before that you were bullied Michel and how it affected you but it always breaks my heart a little when you talk about it. I was bullied too, but as with Lina, it was more verbal and psychological. And I am so thankful that we didn’t have the internet back then. I can’t even imagine how much worse it would have been.
So, this looks really good and I’m so glad you provided a link. In some ways it reminds me of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why.
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It’s okay Kim. Thank you for you kindness. After all these years the sadness over the bullying has pretty much left me. Sure it at times pops up again (such as when I am watching these kinds of series). But besides at times still feeling very insecure I am doing alright.
I think verbal and psychological bullying is pretty much the worst kind, and I am really sorry you have experienced it. It makes me sad, and angry at the same time as well. Especially since the bullies usually don’t even know what the longterm effects can be.
This series really is very good. I liked the fact that it did not see everything as black and white. I haven’t seen 13 Reason’s why yet. But I have really heard some great things about it. I hope to get around to it somewhere this year.
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Same same here Michel. I think maybe the trauma of our past is why we want to help others now.
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Looks interesting, added it to my watchlist.
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It really is. It tells a great story, combined with some great performances. I hope you will enjoy it when you get around to seeing it. Thanks for your comment 😊
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Ah I love your opening and led into the review (and yes, I do think that social media is potentially open to some serious problems). I’m sorry this hit close to home- but it sounds powerful and it’s good it discusses such important topics. Great review!
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Thank you very much 😊😊Well, I haveva twitter account, but I have on,y used it for blogging honestly. Facebook I hardly use at all these days.
Yeah it did hit close to home, but it was such a powerful series,and done so well, that in the end it didn’t bother me. And it brought hope as well, which is also a very good achievement 😊
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You’re welcome 😊😊 Ah yes, me too. And FB barely ever use any more (literally just messenger and I want to use it as a backup for my photos tbh 😉 )
That’s really good. Ah that’s wonderful 😊
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While I don’t know how I would handle the bullying triggers (I was terribly bullied as well), the concept of the show sounds really fascinating!! 😀 Thanks for sharing this. And awesome review. 🙂
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Thanks so much 😊😀
I’m sorry to hear about the fact that you went through it as well. It really is something that I guess never fully will leave your thoughts. Even though the series certainly brought some painfull memories back, it also gave a lot of hope. Without going into spoiler territory, I can honestly say that it’s series with heavy themes, but it also doesn’t get too heavy so to speak. I hope you will enjoy it if at some point you start watching it 😊
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Wow, this series sounds amazing 🙂 (although the theme might be a little heavy and a little too close to home, here too). I think I just found my next series watch. 😀
Great review 🙂
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Thanks so much for the kind words as always! 😊 Well, the thing is, despite the heavy subject matter (and it obviously bringing back some unpleasant memories for me. Hopefully it won’t do that for you, as I am sorry to read it hits close to home for you as well). , I still thought of this as an absolutely amazing series that was a great watch. The acting alone is worth watching it for, but the story itself is very good too. I hope you will enjoy it too.
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Wow, this sounds really interesting. You also gave it such a high score! I’ll put this on my list of shows to check out. Great post, Michel! 🙂
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Thank you so much 😀😀😀 Yeah it really was a terrific series: I hope you will enjoy it too. It’s one of those really hard to stop watching series lol 😂😂
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Another excellent review 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed this one from start to finish. I’m always sorry to hear about your past troubles, but a series like this can be both sad yet healing for those have struggled with things like bullying. Although the drama wasn’t to my tastes, it really did bring to life many of the difficult issues that teens face in a hard hitting and realistic way. So I definitely understand why so many people liked it. Overall,it looks like you had a pretty successful month when it comes to kdramas 🙂
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Thanks so much, and I am really glad to finally write more reviews for these. I really felt I had let you down a bit last year, so that’s why I made this my first theme of the year. But expect at least one K-drama review each month from now on😀😀
It’s definitely the reason I enjoyed the series so much. It really gave a very realistic view on bullying and I also liked the fact that it made you think on why some people can become a bully (not that it means that because of that you should forgive everything they do).
I loved the acting by the two leads as well. Some of the debates they had were serious firework displays so to speak. Thanks again for your kindness, really appreciate it every time 😊😊
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I’m definitely thrilled to see the extra kdrama reviews from you 🙂 But never feel like you let me down because I enjoy many of the other topics you write about too. Always write what you enjoy 🙂 Of course, I won’t complain if that happens to be about kdramas, hehe 😉
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Haha: well trust me as much as I like you,I would not watch K-dramas if I did not like them lol 😂 It’s just the time factor that makes things hard at times, but I will manage for sure 😊😊
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I’ve been looking forward to see what K Drama you will pick and I still haven’t dipped my toe in the water yet. This shows looks likes something I would really like. Thanks for the review.
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You are welcome 😊It really is a very beautiful series, and despite the heavy subject matter one I still highly enjoyed watching. If you get around to it, I hope you will enjoy it too 😊😊
Thanks for your comment 😀
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I like the sound of this movie. Social media is popular and to based this drama on that, it definitely feels real. I avoid thinking of the consequences otherwise I would live under a rock haha but I know there are bad people out there using perfectly harmless info people share. I also like courtroom showdown 🙂 Always excellent review from you Michel!
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Thank you so much 😊😊
Yeah, social media has both positive and negative aspects to it, that is for sure.
But true, this really was a very good series, that was also quite unique and highly enjoyable to watch 😊😊
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Do you get tired of reading the caption? sometimes I feel it fly by to quick.. 🙂
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I don’t get tired from it (as I live in Holland pretty much everything I watch has captions). But I do agree that sometimes they seem to disappear to quickly, and I tend to miss things.
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Loved this review. I saw it couple of days ago and I didn’t really seem compelled to watch it but honestly, this review is making me think otherwise.
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Thank you so much 😊😊
It really is a truly beautiful and compelling watch. It starts of a bit slowly…but picks up steeds quickly until you really can’t stop watching it. I hope you will enjoy it 😀😀
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I’m going to admit right now… I have an unhealthy love of Korean dramas that no one seems to understand. So, thank you for this review! This one sounds even more dramatic than others I’ve seen! (and I’ve seem A LOT OF THEM!) I’ll have to check this one out for sure!!
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Haha: I have a pretty unhealthy love for them as well, the only thing that keeps me from seeing more of them is the fact there are only 24 hours in a day, and way too few of those hours I can spent watching Korean dramas lol
But this really is a very good series…definitely dramatic, but never to the point where it becomes too heavy to watch.
Hope you will enjoy it, and thank YOU for the wonderful comment 😊😊
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It IS hard to read subtitles while reading books for reviews and blogging and completing ‘adulting’ responsibilities. Lol!
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Haha so true lol 😂😂😂😂
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Fantastic review, Michel. It is indeed a crazy world we live in. I remember how one year bus rides were almost phone-free with people either being quiet, listening to music or talking to others, and the next year every single person pulled one out the moment they sat down! 🤣 Also really intrigued by this look at the evolution of a bully. That’s a nice angle to explore. It does sound like a great movie. Legal thrillers are pretty fun too!
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It really was wonderfully done this series. It takes a pretty unique angle without getting too heavy to watch.
And the world of mobile devices is definitely strange. I have been on luchbreaks where I see people just pulling out their phones and not even talking to each other which is crazy.
Thank you again for the kind words 😊
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Wow. This sounds so cool. Definitely watching this! A lot of kids have had to go through bullying. But now the form of bullying has changed to another form. Social network bullying. It has an impact that is sometimes equal to or more than the bullying that was present before the advent of social network.
Also it’s dramas like this, that stand out in the Korean industry making it a delight to watch. I am definitely watching this one.
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As someone said here, I’m glad I’m not at school anymore in these times. Internet bullying is even worse than what I went through at school. As bad as that was, at least when I got home it was over. Nowadays though, it continues at home. Really terrible 😢😢
It really was a very good show. One of those truly thoughtprovoking ones, that stayed in your mind well after it was finished 😊 Hope you will enjoy it too 😊😊
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You are right. We live in such a worrisome time. Even our homes are not safe. All we can do is hope for a better abd safer future.
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Yeah, I am an optimistic kind of guy, and I try to keep having faith as much as I can. 😊
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