Well, it's that time of the year again, and in honor of the newly minted school year, here are the dramas that will get you back in the mood, whatever side of the desk you're on (this is my first year switching sides! Wish me luck!). Are you ready for first loves with a side of triangle? Noble teachers, evil principals, and corrupt officials to be taken down? Adventure, murder, and nostalgia? Here we go!
Sassy Go Go (2015)
High school can be a fiercely competitive time, what with college applications, intense parents, and peer pressure. But Kang Yeon Do and her bottom-of-the-food-chain dance club just want to have fun and enjoy being young...an attitude that gets on the nerves of the pushy school principal and the school's wound-tighter-than-a-clock ace students. However, when the two groups are forced to work together in a cheerleading club to ensure their mutual survival, friendship and romance bloom in the most unexpected ways. Soon, these kids are fighting against the pressure for the right to just be themselves.
It's romantic and bubbly, infused with a spirit of youth and camaraderie that makes me wish I'd had this friend circle when I was sixteen. But it deals with some serious things too--corruption in the school system and the mental health issues teens are especially vulnerable to. 12 episodes that just fly by.
Page Turner (2016)
High school can be especially tricky for artistic geniuses. Yoon Yoo Seul is a brilliant young pianist with a promising future when an accident leaves her blind. Jeong Cha Shik has what it takes to become a pro athlete when an accident leaves him unable to compete. Seo Min Jok is a pianist whose constant pattern of coming in second to Yoo Seul has left him with a massive inferiority complex. Their struggles to find their paths bring them together and into a brighter future.
It's all about following your dreams, tackling the impossible, overcoming handicaps, building each other up, and refusing to let parents define you. It showcases the prickly, rebellious, snarky side of being an adolescent perfectly, as well as the warm, optimistic one. If only there were more than 3 episodes!
Angry Mom (2015)
Former teen mom Jo Kang Ja, a foul-mouthed justice warrior, is horrified to discover her beloved but distant daughter Ah Ran is suffering violent bullying at her school. To protect her, the youthful-looking Kang Ja disguises herself as a student and goes undercover to catch the culprit. What she uncovers is a quagmire of corruption and abuse, including a murdered pregnant teen, a boy trapped in a gang, and school construction project that could lead to tragedy. Everyone's in need of a little rescuing, and along the way she just might be able to repair her relationship with her daughter.
It's a surprisingly noir show, far darker than it's cutesy premise suggests, and the serious issues it tackles are the things that 60 Minutes programs are full of, things to be aware about. But there are rays of light as well, about friendships and family and escape from the past, growing up and first crushes and becoming you. 16 episodes, a perfect length.
White Christmas (2011)
Attending the best high school in the country comes attendant with unique pressures. Violent ones. When eight teens get stranded at their boarding school over Christmas break, suppressed feelings surface, and dead bodies start turning up. Are monsters born or are monsters made?
It's a brilliant, artistic glimpse into high school and the psyche of a serial killer. As a mystery-thriller, it's got few competitors to match it for tension, and it's got an all-star cast before they became stars. At 8 episodes, it's a perfect length for marathoning.
Answer Me 1997 (2012)
The ultimate coming of age story. Sung Shi Won and her high school friends have a reunion in the present day to reminisce about their lives as teens in the nineties. Their nostalgia, conveyed through flashbacks that raise questions about the modern day (who marries who???), is soft and welcoming, filled with those moments that come with being sixteen--childhood friends dealing with inconvenient feelings, best friends sticking by each other no matter what, being madly in love with a band, the fighting and the love and the tragedy that comes with being part of a family, the blossoming into adulthood that means leaving things behind.
To me, this is far and away the best of the much touted Reply series. It's fresh and original, and though bloated, the extra minutes are ultimately incredibly satisfying. 16 immersive episodes.
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