Momento dos Dezoito (2019)

This show's highlight is really the uniquely written characters.

Jun Woo has no interest in school life because of a traumatic past in his previous school. Just in his first week in the new school, he is falsely accused of stealing. Meanwhile, Soo Bin notices a different side of him besides what the others think and finds herself gravitating towards him. Through time, we'll see the innocent first love of these 18-year-olds.

It’s one of the better school dramas that handles students’ issues well. Not only the romance is so adorable, This show's highlight is really the uniquely written and authentic characters.

Jun Woo is probably my favorite type of male lead – quiet, stoic, introspective, protective, with no toxic masculinity. He's smart and knows how to stand his ground even though he's introverted. His quirks and mannerism is so unique that you just have to see him to understand and appreciate him. Our female lead, Soo Bin, has a really wonderful stage presence; She’s bright and warm, which gives the energy that people around her are happy to see her. I love that. Their highs and lows are just truly endearing.

Although there are some episodes that I find boring and landing flat to me, the ending allows me to imagine them living on and I always find that very nice.

I recommend the show to anyone who love slice-of-life. It falls somewhere in between Sassy Go Go or Cheer Up, and the more serious elements probably comparable to Sky Castle. So, if you enjoyed those, I think Moments of 18 has a lot in common.

Leia Mais

Moment at Eighteen was a beautiful story that surprised me with the various themes it brought up. I originally watched it because of the romance, but it had much more to offer.

The beginnig was especially strong and each episode was action packed and left the viewers craving for more. Naturally, as it progressed it also slowed down in the middle and focused more on the two main characters' relationship and the unfolding romance. Despite this, in the last episodes it picked up the inital speed and vibe and the ending was really nice.
Moment at Eighteen captured perfectly the feeling of growing up and I got attached to the charcters and their stories. The ending feels like saying goodbye to an old friend and somehow feels nostalgic.
There were various themes in this drama such as the portrayal of the different parent-child relationships (both good and bad), the feeling of first love, the pressure that students face to become studying machines just to get into universities and even lgbt topics!

The acting was amazing! Ong Seong Wu did a beautiful job with his character (knowing that this is his acting debut!) and I could feel sincerely connected to his character. Everyone else in the cast was amazing too and there were so many unique characters. I have to highlight Kang Ki Young, who is seriously one of the best actors right now, his character was probably my favourite.

I really loved the OST as well, it mirrored perfectly the feeling and gave a great ambiance to the drama.

Overall this drama made me very emotional at times and made me laugh too. It filled me with warmth and made me fall in love with the charcters. It's definetly a school drama that everyone can enjoy and relate to regardless of their age.

Leia Mais

I must say it was unexpected. I thought it was some cheap high school romance but it turned out to be a lot more complexed than that. I did like how realistic it was most of the time. Sure some of things didn't make some sense but I think the topic they cover was covered good. I definitely had a hard time thinking who deserved what. Because even the"bad people" aren't real bad they just had a bad life so who should you blame? Who deserves what and who doesn't. I was left wondering that. It is definitely a more serious drama. It has some funny moments, but the drama is mostly really realistic and cruel.

Even though you try to hate some characters you can't hate them really. I did love the frend-enemies dynamic. And even though it is a teen drama about teens I did like that we got story about parents, but it wasn't too much, just enough. I think I would've liked it if it was longer. It just felt a bit empty at the end just because I wanted to experience more with the characters. I actually at first didn't like the ending, but the more I think about it, it was great.

We are left knowing they are only 18 and that they won't give up. I like that this drama was really realistic about it but still gave hope. That they can do it, that people can change and that not everything goes right at first but we shouldn't give up.

So I really liked this drama and I I would recommend it.

Leia Mais

Poor!

When it comes to teenage/school dramas, bullying/hierarchy/classes and school pressure aren't doing it for me unless they take an interesting angle of which this drama failed to do. It fell into the endless pit of vexing mediocrity. On another note, sloppy writing that is sincerely flawed and only focuses on the shininess of teenage fluff and antics, further demoting its poor efforts in creating a story. On an unrelated note, I wonder when Kim Hyang Gi would graduate from playing student roles, it's getting stale. Also, it's a waste for the adult cast to be involved in such drama.

Leia Mais

A teen drama but also a sort of heavy slice-of-life

(Spoilers at the bottom regarding a character's sexuality)

Such a down-hearted and sweet ML. He's such a good-natured person that he sometimes lets things slide or doesn't stand up for himself enough when he should though. But, he is true to himself and his morals, and he does stand up in his own way later on. 

The big "misunderstanding" was annoying but the payoff was perfect. The lesson was genuinely learned and the FL was apologetic and did better afterward.

This was a teen drama but also a sort of heavy slice-of-life. It's slow, but purposefully so. These are teenagers dealing with typical problems/more serious problems but also bigger things out of their control that they shouldn't have to face. It covers emotional/physical abuse, overdemanding and anxiety-inducing parental pressure, divorce, child abandonment, a form of self-harm, peer pressure, a victim choosing for themself how they handle things, bullying, etc. 

It's about being more present in life, realizing what you can and can't control, and accepting what is and isn't your fault. Parental pressure and abuse is never the fault of the victim, but maliciously taking out that pain on others is. And you can understand why someone would act that way because of their horrible environment but it doesn't mean you condone or forgive the behavior. Life circumstances can get in the way of us and being with our loved ones but it doesn't mean the relationship is lost.

We do the best we can and we still struggle. But there are moments to cherish in our past and moments to look forward to in the future.

Regarding Representation: We had a Gay SML, Jung Oh Je, who had unrequited feelings for one of the MLs, Ma Hwi Young. He didn't have a lot of screen time but he was a calming presence and his character had an impact, particularly when the drama was airing.

The way they hint at his real feelings is nicely subtle in the background. Even when he doesn't have lines, if you pay attention and follow his stare you notice who he's looking at. And he has a very openly thoughtful yet guarded expression to him that speaks of someone who is figuring something out within themself that they are scared of.

I think they did a good job. Realistically the outing likely would have gone much worse but I think them toning it down helped in showing acceptance of someone's sexuality as being the right and natural thing. Even Ma Hwi Young wasn't really a jerk about it in the way he would be about anything else.

Leia Mais

Fantastic cast, great acting

I have no idea why people are saying it was slow or boring. Have we lost the patience to let things unfold and let emotions flow at a certain pace...

Does everything have to be fast and peppy,

I absolutely loved the storyline, the cast, direction is so realistic and good acting by everyone. You can feel the emotions and connection of the lead.. their acting was very natural.

I am sure audience will connect with the characters. It also teaches the right morals to younger audience. Consequences of wrong d oing and not everything be measured by money or power.

Leia Mais

You will remember your own Moment of 18

 Story
choi jun woo, a teen who is forced to transfer to another school, meets classmates yoo soo bin and ma hwi young. And gets pulled into the journey of first love as well as the life experience. He is misunderstood in his new school yet he finds his way to the future. There are crazy rich parents who have high expectations from there kids.
 Plot views
an excellent coming of age story. Each story was given a good closure at the end. My only concern was that it suddenly shift to the romantic plot actually shifted the storyline too. The death of the friend was left aside and as there were many supporting characters who had there own storyline and difficulties, it could have been dealt a little more. Specially oh je ju who had a secret and Ro-mi who had a knack of lying about her background. The friendship and love were well portrayed. Am happy to have watched this.
 Acting- I will start with my fav.
▪︎The class teacher oh-han-kyul played by kang-ki-young. He was just perfect in the role taking care of the students while connecting with jun woo, remembering his old days. He always tried to show the right path to the students. His expressions were apt and body language was superb.
▪︎Shin seung ho as ma hwi young was good choice. As he had a big build, he seemed rich and with the expression he seemed to have a dark side too.
▪︎Ong SeongWu as Choi Joon Woo was awesome. His lean and thin body seemed as if he was bullied and thus looked as a teen. He appears as if he has no empathy and is cold-hearted but he has a side where he is soft,caring loving. It was nice to see his reactions during bad situations not just enduring everything. He won many awards for the role and I would like to see more of his works.
▪︎Kim HyangGi as Yoo SooBin was cute. Her smiles was lighting up the screens. Her mother daughter relationship was rough but beautiful. As we all know that age is critical and we all should be careful.
 Music- christopher’s moment was excellent piece. Just loved it.
Other osts and bgm was also nice. I like the piano notes in the BGM.
 Rewatch- yes but after sometime when I have forgot the story.
 Appreciation- it dealt with the teenage life where they are sometimes considered grown ups and sometimes not. It conveys proper life lessons and I hope everyone who watches it is able to grasp it.
 Criticism- Ending of ma hwi young was ok but what happened to his parents, wasn’t shown. He was also a victim, and his meeting with brother was like only one sided.
 Fav scene
1when joon woo brings his co-worker to his school.
2when he does not write the apology letter.
 Quotes
Ma hwi young-They always told me to try to beas good as you but I will stop being as good as you. I’ll be good as I can be.
Yoo soo bin- It must be so easy for you adults. Sometimes you tell us that we know nothing because we are too young and we should do nothing but study, but other times you say you are all grown up now you are old enough to understand everything. You change your words whenever you want to suit your needs
 Recommendation
yes I would recommend this to everyone who loves a good story but with not much pressure to mind and heart.
 Afterthought
I remembered my own moment of 18 and the bad decisions I made. I wished I had met my mentor at that age who changed my life. Needless it reminds of ones youth and first love

Leia Mais

The best part of our lives

I love this! It captured that moment when we were in High School (Grades 10, 11, 12 in South Korea; Grades 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 in the Philippines).

It was a very good throwback to the best day of our lives. When we were so young, innocent, brave, that part of our life where we were trying to carve a name for ourselves, trying to be independent, yet reality is pushing us back. That point in our lives when we start to hate our parents/guardians because of this and that.

But, today, as adults, we are saying the exact same thing to the kids of today. Go study. GO STUDY! It is not the time to be in a relationship. Or, us adults find it hard to trust kids because WE KNOW EXACTLY what is going on in their minds and what they are and will do. Why? Because we've been there ourselves.

To some, relationship became the reason their grades fell. While for some, it became the reason they became the top of the class. Some got distracted because of it, some it was a source of inspiration.

That is what this show is about, High School life, and how we were poking into the world of adulthood, yet too afraid to face make a stand. Where we thought we knew better, only to realise, often the hard way, what we know about ourselves and about life is nothing.

EVEN SO, it is that point in our lives that many of us wants to go back to. The fun. The feeling of being sooooo muuuuch in love. Laughing with our friends. With absolutely no care about the world.

To kids out there, enjoy your school life. Play hard. Live it. Laugh all you want, cry all you want. Be in love. Feel all the pain of break-ups. Because, trust us, once you are an adult, you will never have time to play, you will never experience that kind of life ever again. You will never have time to laugh, NOT EVEN to cry. And all the pain you will experience as an adult, you will lock it away. And all the love in the world, you will learn to ignore it.

It sucks to be an adult. So, enjoy your High School life. Make the best of it. Make a lot of good memories, and learn from all the bad memories. It will shape you. It will be the source of your strength and success one day.

You may hate your teachers, those subjects, but they will become useful in your adult life.

At that age, you think you know what you want to become and what job you will apply to, but no, more than half the time, things doesn't go according to your plan.

You hate math? Who doesn't? You are thinking you don't need to learn history, or English because it has nothing to do with the job you want? We all assumed that, too.

But, you know what, kids? We were wrong. Even in the type of jobs where it's 99% not needed, there is always that 1%, and you will wish to paid attention to your teachers.

Enjoy your life at eighteen, or you will regret it later.

Leia Mais

Jun Woo protection squad

Like the other reviews, I have to agree that the story and plot had an amazing potential that wasn't properly used. There are lots of loose strings plot wise by the end of the drama; However, I would like to say that it's worth watching just because of the characterization of the main lead as well as the depiction of teen life, social statuses, family abuse, bullying and the pacing of time. I was truly invested and moved by this drama throughout each episode. They tackled many themes through the drama and might have been overambitious with the romantic side of the drama. I believe, "Moments at Eighteen" would have been more successful if they had removed the rather mediocre but still true teen romance out of the equation and dealt with the other more serious thematic at hand, that is, unless they had made more episodes to discuss the other themes.
Overall, I love the main lead and went through this journey with him.
The acting was amazing, and the episode titles were also spectacular!!

Leia Mais

KIND OF A LONG REVIEW BC I LOVE CHOI JUNWU

First off, I am not an avid fan of kdrama or any series in particular because I don't have enough attention and time to invest in any series. Surprisingly, I loved this one!!! Also note this review focuses solely on how I felt about it, and not on its technicalities.

Choi Junwu, I thought was difficult to read. He is quiet, shy, observant. It was later on when I realized, he was simply just being 18. And being 18 means having to deal with the budding sense of responsibility of becoming an adult, trying to understand the raw, novel emotions of love, grief, isolation, and discovering one's individuality. In many cases, these were manifested and it was written well. Junwu's depth was portrayed well by Ong Seongwu. For a rookie actor, this was such a heavy role!!! (I admit I'm biased but trust me, he did REALLY GOOD he got a Baeksang nomination for it.)

Some characters were a bit too comical and stereotypical, like Soobin's circle and Pilsang, and some were just plain repulsive, like Hwiyeong's parents. But I especially liked their teacher. Like us viewers, he was the "outsider". He was the one observing these kids and understanding where they're coming from. He was rooting for them and as a viewer, I too, was wishing these students could get a break. The mothers were also great. Overall, the dynamic between characters was good.

I do not know much since this is only my 2nd deliberate kdrama watch, and my first for this genre. Maybe I loved this one because it reminded me too much of my own moments at 18 (*cough* that last episode...something very similar happened to me, also on an exam day HAHAHA
I recommend this drama. It was not perfect, but it is one to FEEL and not to think about. Those moments--of shifting back and forth between being and existing, falling in and out of love, rebelling against parents and feeling guilty about it, thinking you're not enough--captured the essence of youth. It's both so simple and so complicated, but you will get through it anyway.

**The rewatch value is low because I already felt a lot from watching it once, and I'm afraid it will lose its magic when I overwhelm myself too much.

Leia Mais

I’m kinda sad about Oh Je (Moonbin) “Moment at Eighteen” he may of been a side character but his story was really something. There’s lots of one sided love in this drama. Every character had a kinda tragic back story. Especially with Hwiyoung and his abusive father. At first he seems like Mr.Perfect class president with good grades and nice attitude. I really felt bad for Oh je in the end tho, I’m glad he didn’t let the haters get the best of him tho, and his supportive friends. The scene where Hwiyoung comes in while everyone is whispering about Oh Je, one of his classmates stuck up for him. Then someone told Hwiyoung to check his phone and it reads “Oh Je has a crush of Hwiyoung”, which was kinda a cute way of saying he likes him, but was a bitch move on that girls part for outing him...may I say this... maybe it was a good thing this news came about, but it should of be on Oh je’s terms. It was a very relatable story, very realistic high school story because not every is loved back by the person they like. I feel like maybe Hwiyoung would of been a bit more supportive of Oh Je (not saying he wasn’t supportive or against him, he was a good friend to him) if he wasn’t in a tough position with the scandal at school and his abusive dad. Some people say if things were different maybe Oh Je would have a chance... idk. Also people say even tho Hwiyoung knew about it , Oh Je Should of admitted it to Hwiyoung when he was saying how “You can like whoever you want, just don’t get me involved”. Oh Je was just like “It doesn’t matter anyways it’s a personal problem”. It was a good drama I must say. Worth the watch!!!

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