Revenge Note aka Sweet Revenge

I finished two of the supplementary things for the book and sent them off to my editor (having sent off the revised manuscript late last week), so I thought I'd reward myself with a show. Since watching Cha Eun Woo just makes me happy (and I don't at all mean that in a cougar-y kind of way...I'm old enough to be his mom for heaven's sake; he's a puppy but he's a freaking adorable puppy and he's just a joy), I thought I'd go with another drama that features him. Weirdly enough, it's another one where he plays himself, though he's not the love interest this time around. Just a good friend.

It's called Sweet Revenge or Revenge Note, depending on where you find it and the show must have done reasonably well as there's another season of it (but I think it's with different characters). And, happily, the episodes are just a bit over half an hour, so doable if you don't have a huge amount of time. If I'd realised that before, I might have bumped it up my list.

Anyway, this is the story of Ho Goo Hee (played by Kim Hyang-gi), the girl with the braids. She's a 17 year old high school freshman (someday I need to look up exactly what years Korean high school is exactly) and she's super sweet...but a bit of a pushover. Her boyfriend from middle school went off to a different school and obviously (not to her) took advantage of her by accepting presents but not reciprocating, etc. etc. and was just not that into her. Anyway, once she gets to this new school, she meets Ji-Hoon (played by Park Solomon) who's a bit aloof but has already bailed her out twice since knowing her (in embarrassing ways) and also witnesses the inevitable but heart-wrenching scene of when she gets dumped by her jerky boyfriend.

She does make one new friend in Jung Deok-Hee (played by Kim Hwan-Hee) who is a super fan of Cha Eun Woo (I learned today that his real name is Lee Dong Min. I wonder why they gave him a stage name? Is there another famous Lee Dong Min or something? A quick search doesn't make it appear that's the case. So...colour me clueless.). Remember him? The reason why I started this show? Yes, he frequents the chicken restaurant that Goo Hee's family owns and is a friend of her brother and is like an oppa to her (more so than her real brother who is...well...very brother-y). Eun Woo is one of the only bright spots in Goo-Hee's life.

There's also a girl at her school that knew her and took advantage of her in middle school (taking her homework, asking her to take on her school duties, etc.) and is up the same old tricks now. Here's where Goo-Hee has some growing up to do. She needs to, as they say, grow a pair. We'll just say it's ovaries. But, yeah. She's a total pushover and while she's sweet, some of this is her fault for never standing up for herself.

Anyway, by the end of the first episode, Goo-Hee is at a low point after being dumped and has received an invitation to join "Revenge Note" on her phone. That's where I am so far.

Will write more later but I'd have to say that I'm enjoying the actors and finding that it seems to have a good balance between sad bits and comedic bits, which helps with the pace. It looks well done and I have a good feeling about it in general. It's got a 9.4 rating on Viki, which is pretty decent. Definitely a high school drama, but, hey, I'm never growing up, so what the hey.

Edit: About to start episode 4 and I gotta say that this one is all around better than I thought it would be. I mean, I had hopes, but it's even better so far as story, plot, characters... very brief update...Goo-Hee keeps running into horrible people. Ji-Hoon keeps saving her (along with his guy friend/flunky). Goo-Hee has just used the Revenge Note app on someone who may not have actually deserved it, but I think (in the next episode) she'll be taking matters into her own hands. Eun-woo is about to have trouble. It's all moving along and characters are developing.

Edit: Finished episode 6. Park Solomon is just adorable in this. My only complaint about the show is that I really want Gui-Hee/Goo-Hee to start developing more of a spine instead of relying on the mysterious app. But, seriously, Ji-Hun/Ji-Hoon is just great.

Edit: I'm up to episode 11. Well, I'm still liking the show overall but Goo-Hee is still in need of a backbone or at least some faith in herself and/or Ji-Hoon. And I should probably stop watching the preview of the next show they put at the end of the episodes because they always feel more angsty/horrible than it winds up being. I get that you gotta have conflict, but now it kinda feels a bit drawn out and re-hashed...oh, this girl is after Ji-Hoon...and now this one---and now this one wants revenge because he turned her down...O woe...I almost like the story bits where they're dealing with someone else's problems more. But overall, it's still good and I do like all the lead characters. Wouldn't mind more of Eun-woo though...

Final Edit 29 April 2020: Finally finished it. All this time I'd thought I had two episodes left (it's been MONTHS since I watched this) but there was actually only one left and the last thing on Viki was some recap/rehash thing. So I really should have finished it AGES ago. But anyway.

So, the girl who wanted revenge on Ji-Hoon goes totally over the top (as does her evil beyotch mom) but Goo-Hee's phone gets ruined (by the evil girl) and she can't use Revenge Note when she needs it most (Ji-Hoon is being threatened with jail and his family's business in trouble). But they wind up prevailing because they are nice people and the much beset upon driver of the evil girl's family can't take any more of their evil machinations and helps them out. More or less. And Goo-Hee's brother fixes her phone, but she decides to delete the app because she doesn't want to rely on it anymore.

To sum up, am I glad I watched it? Yes. It was good. Better than I thought it would be. Not everything was all wrapped up, but overall it was nice. Acting was good, even on the young actors. Kim Hyang-gi I've also seen in a movie (where she played a girl with autism) and she's great. Park Solomon...I really enjoyed him in this too. I wonder why he hasn't really been in much? I can't find anything he's been in recently. Shame. Hopefully he gets more roles. Eun-woo...my only complaint is that they didn't tie off his story at all and I could have used more of him. :-)

Would I watch it again? Probably not. While I enjoyed it, I'm old. And I'm not a big fan of bullying storylines (even though the good guys "win"). Will I go on to watch Revenge Note 2? Eh, I dunno. I've seen a bunch of clips of that one and it looks like it is on par with this one with lots more bitchy, manipulative girls. The leads in it also look cute BUT I can only watch so much of that. I think I'd have been way more into it if I was a teenager but I am SO not. Even if I do write books for kids.