FRIDAY NIGHT DRAMA: Monstar

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Since featuring BEAST’s “12:30” yesterday as my Tune of the Week, I’ve kind of got Junhyung on the brain so it only makes sense for me to feature Monstar as this weekend’s drama to marathon.

5Originally airing on both Mnet and tvN from May-August of last year (2013), Monstar is the story of a troubled idol, Yoon Sul Chan (Yong Jun Hyung) who, after lashing out at a sasaeng fan, is sent back to school in a desperate attempt by his company to calm the storm that raged after his actions were caught on camera and released to the public. At school, Sul Chan finds himself a reluctant member of a band of misfits, all with their own, rather painful story to tell. As unlikely as it is for any of these kids to band together, they find themselves drawn together by music and bonded by some rather unlikely friendships in this bittersweet coming-of-age tale.

6Being a high school drama, Monstar is one of those dramas full of raging emotions and typical teenage angst, which has a tendency to put some viewers off, but at the same time it’s got a lot of heart, which balanced things out rather nicely for me. I’m such a sucker for any story that combines the drama of teenage life with really good music so I was immediately drawn to this one and I have to say, I enjoyed it. The story itself is original enough, an idol forced back to school in the wake of a media frenzy isn’t something you come across every day and watching Sul Chan try to interact with peers in a normal, everyday setting was entertaining, to say the least. Sul Chan is such a punk, he has a terrible time trying to fit in and he really doesn’t know how to interact with his seatmate, the rather odd yet incredibly adorable transfer student, Min Sae Yi (Ha Yeon Soo). Being one of those who absolutely adores love stories that start off as hate and morph into love, I enjoyed watching the relationship between Sae Yi and Sul Chan develop. (Mostly because Sul Chan has absolutely no idea how to act around a girl he likes so he screws up a lot and every time I just sit back and laugh.)

3Of course you can’t have any sort of relationship in Drama Land without having some sort of rival for the lead and in Monstarthat rival is Jung Sun Woo (Kang Ha Neul). There’s a lot of tension between Sun Woo and Sul Chang and though a good bit of it stems from their shared interest in Sae Yi, a good bit more comes from the fact that these two were once best friends. After a massive falling out, Sun Woo and Sul Chan spend so much time at each other’s throats, it’s a wonder they don’t actually end up killing each other! They have a whole lot of very frustrating moments but that’s kind of par for the course with this drama. Every kid in this show has someone they’re fighting with at some point and there are a lot of moments when you just want to smack people upside the head and tell them to get over themselves. Like I said, this drama has a lot of angst.

7With Monstar being originally toted as a musical, you can expect to find some really great music along the way but there’s so much  more to this story than just the music. The characters are interesting, the actors themselves are adorable and the story has some undeniably sweet moments, though they’re often paired with some equally painful ones.(Yes, this is one of those dramas that will make you both laugh and cry.) If angsty teenage dramas aren’t your thing, you’re going to want to skip this one but if you aren’t bothered by teenagers being teenagers, you might want to check this one out. Of course once you do (or even if you don’t) I’d love to hear what you thought so be sure to let me know by leaving me a comment below!

5 Replies to “FRIDAY NIGHT DRAMA: Monstar”

  1. I loved this one! I’m a sucker for the sweetness of the teenage dramas – and then they added music!! Woohoo! I watched this one with my teenage daughter and we really enjoyed it.

    I’m a big fan of Kang HaNeul. I’m hoping that soon he’ll land a drama where he actually gets the girl. He’s one of those “always the bridesmaid never the bride” actors.

    1. I love Kang Ha Neul as well and I couldn’t agree with you more. He really needs a role where he can actually get the girl! I’m so tired of suffering second lead syndrome on his behalf! Haha.

  2. hello, i’m a late sailor with this monstar ship!LOL, and i feel kinda regret that i skipped this gem when it was still burning hot. I’m instantly got hook after the first episode and i’ll go straight marathon all the episodes within 2 days, and you know.after i finish, i’m still rewatch it over and over again! all the characters left me such a deep impression, i feel like i’m chanelling my teen angs again thru this band of misfit.hahaha..

    and i think now i’m getting addcited to seolchan, LOL.he’s just so raw and clueless when it comes to deal with his new feeling for a girl who doesn’t give a damn with him at first.haha..and that’s totally what sold me out here. And i couldn’t get enough to give credit to Junhyung for succesfully portray seolchan the way he did, is just awesome!especially after i learned that he was busy preparing and compossing a full album for his group’s comeback, yet he managed to just deliver such a good acting, just wow!FYI, before monstar, i didn’t even know that this Junhyung even exist, LOL. i heard Beast before, but never put a special attention to it. But now…Now, im diggin the internet upside down just to find a little of glimpse of him, LOL. oh, i’m sick..hahaha (Pst, and that’s exactly which lead me here to your blog, ppft)

    i also like ha yeon soo’s way rotraying min se yi with her trademark deadpan look while deliver some cold joke, haha. I’m so fed up with actress with stiff acting, but yeon soo was just daebak too.I wish the show was a bit longer, though or having the second season, but with junhyung schedule, likely that won’t happened,argh.. that would be awesome.

    1. If you ask me, it’s never too late to board a ship as great as Monstar. It’s just as fantastic now as it was when it first aired so welcome aboard! Haha. You’re so right about Junhyung! He did an amazing job with his character and I was just like you after watching this drama the first time. I was addicted to Junhyung and couldn’t get enough! I’m happy your quest for more of him led you here! I’m always happen to meet new drama/K-Pop lovers and I hope you find your way back often. It’s always more fun to squee over biases with a friend. 🙂

      1. hahaha, owh..i never thought that i could actually fangirling this hard in my 15 years watching Kdrama, LOL. That’s almost half of my age, and i never ever feeling this way. Ottoke!And yes, you bet i’ll be here often after i found your blog 🙂

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