It is not often that you find Korean drama series that are less than 10 episodes. But there are three (3) such K-dramas currently streaming on Viki. (1) “Under the Gun” (2024); “How to Buy a Friend” (2020); and “Everything and Nothing” (2019).
- My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewing audience. To me the message in each of these K-dramas is clear: The students in the 3 selected K-dramas are ages 19, 18 and 17, respectively. When they should be enjoying their youth and preparing to begin their adult lives, high school students often have to deal with adult problems before becoming adults. Sometimes because they lack maturity and wisdom, they make the wrong decisions. But that doesn’t mean their life is over.
- Add these to another list previously published by PopGeeks: Finland Papa and Other K-dramas With Less Than 10 Episodes
♦ (1) “Under the Gun” is a 2024 Korean drama TV series, with 6 episodes, categorized as High School, Youth, Romance-Noir drama.
STORYLINE: “Under the Gun” paints a picture of the life of 19-year-olds attending Sunhwa High School. Go Gun is a high school student who is under immense pressure. He is handsome and popular but nobody knows the trouble he’s seen. His mother has passed away. His father is an alcoholic and gambled their house away. At the same time, his beloved sister is hospitalized because she has been diagnosed with a serious illness that requires extensive medical treatment. Of course, the family doesn’t have the money to pay the doctor’s bills. Go Guns works a wide range of part-time jobs, while also attending high school.
The burden of caring for his family is resting on his shoulders. You could say he’s literally “under the gun”. He makes a bad decision and gets a job working for an illegal gambling establishment. He does not gamble but he is fully aware that the activities taking place are illegal. But making money for daily living expenses and his sister’s medical treatment are his priorities. Therefore, any decisions he makes – right or wrong, legal or illegal – are justified. At least that is what he thinks.
Justified? That means it’s the right thing to do. But are his decisions RIGHT? Did he have to choose to do something illegal? Wasn’t there a way he could earn money legally?
Main Characters:
- Go Gun (played by Zuho, member of K-Pop group SF9)
- Cha Se Young (played by Jo Soo Min, “Royal Secret Agent”)
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb: 7.4 out of 10 stars
- My Drama List: 7.7 out of 10 stars
- CommonSenseMedia: 3 out of 5 stars
- Viki viewers rated this series 9.2 out of 10 stars
LINKS OF INTEREST:
KDrama Review: Under The Gun | K&J Reviews
TRAILER/TEASER:
Kdrama Princess. “UNDER THE GUN Kdrama-Trailer(2024) New Ongoing Kdrama(Eng-Sub) Jo Soo Min & Zuho.” YouTube, 4 Apr. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYbCxlF2w0w.
♦
“Under the Gun” is rated R and it is less than 10 episodes. Below are two (2) more K-dramas also streaming on Viki, if you liked this one. They are rated PG-13.
(2) How to Buy a Friend (2020)
GENRE: Romance, High School, Youth, Crime, Mystery (8 episodes)
STORYLINE: Is this the average life of 18-year-olds? Eom Se-Yoon is SPP, i.e. smart, pretty, and popular. Not the kind of girl who would ever acknowledge Park Chan-Hong. However, because his teacher thought he had great potential as a poet, the teacher partnered him with Eom Se-Yoon for a competition. That’s how he and Eom Se-Yoon were finally connected. Park Chan-Hong imagined their relationship would develop into romance. Why not? He once thought it was impossible they would even talk to each other, but that happened. Then it’s possible they could fall in love too! But a bully asked him if he would introduce him to Eom Se-Yoon. Uh oh! Ugly twist in his lifeline. Be a hero OR coward?
Heo Don-Hyeok is just trying to live. One day Heo Don-Hyeok rescues Park Chan-Hong from a bully and tells him he must pay him back. It seems Heo Don-Hyeok recognized a line in his poem that he won an award for. Someone else said it before him. But that person was dead. Heo Don-Hyeok thought that either Park Chan-Hong had killed her or he could help him find out who did. The person who said “Wet sand remembers footprints” was a female student the police say committed suicide because of bad grades. Heo Don-Hyeok believed that the truth behind her death was being covered up.
Park Chan-Hong agreed to the deal. Uh oh. Is this another ugly twist in his lifeline? Did Park Chan-Hong buy a friend? What kind of friend? His life was turning into a very ugly poem.
Main Characters:
- Park Chan-Hong (played by Lee Sin-Young, “Captivating The King”, “CEO-dol Mart”, “Rookie Cops”)
- Heo Don-Hyeok (played by Shin Seung-Ho, “Alchemy of Souls 1 & 2”, “Weak Hero Class 1”)
- Eom Se-Yoon (played by Kim So-Hye, “My Lovely Boxer”)
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb rating: 7.2 out of 10 stars
- MyDramaList: 7.8 out of 10 stars
- Letterboxd: 3.4 out of 5 stars
- Viki viewers rated this series 9.1 out of 10 stars
LINKS OF INTEREST:
Thoughts on the bullying message in How to Buy a Friend? : r/KDRAMA | Reddit
TRAILER/TEASER:
KOCOWA TV. “[How to Buy a FriendㅣTeaser Trailer 3] ‘That Cruel Spring Has Begun.’” YouTube, 3 Apr. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C55IqyaKIn8.
♦
(3) Everything and Nothing (2019)
GENRE: Romance, High School, Youth, Coming-of-Age (4 episodes; aka “Seventeen-Year-Old’s Condition”)
STORYLINE: Two “ordinary” high school students, both 17 years old, are experiencing growing pains. One student, Ko Min-Jae, is the quiet sensitive type. He is almost a model student since he gets good grades and never gets into trouble. But that’s the thing with the quiet ones. You never know what’s really going on with them. The other student, An Seo-Yeon, is trying to readjust her life to deal with her parents’ divorce. She now lives with her mother. Will the absence of a father figure arrest her development? Ko Min-Jae’s father is also absent. But not because his parents are divorced. His mother told him it was the separation was temporary and convenient. Ko Min-Jae and An Seo-Yeon both attended the same middle school. But will their lives become intertwined now that they are both attending the same high school? Will they develop a relationship and help each other to grow into adulthood?
Main Characters:
- Ko Min-Jae (played by Yoon Chan-Young, “High School Return of a Gangster”)
- An Seo-Yeon (played by Park Si-Eun)
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb rating: 7.5 out of 10 stars
- MyDramaList: 7.6 out of 10 stars
- Dramabeans: 8.8 out of 10 stars
- Letterboxd: 3.4 out of 5 stars
- Viki viewers rated this series 8.6 out of 10 stars
LINKS OF INTEREST:
Flash Review: Everything And Nothing [Mini Series] | The Fangirl Verdict
TRAILER/TEASER:
Chae Light. “Everything and Nothing Korean Drama ?.” YouTube, 9 Aug. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldOJsZJYilM.
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