Announcing ‘ Melancholia’ as " completely different" from his other works, rom-com director Kim Sang Hyub ( ‘ True Beauty’, ‘ Extraordinary You’, ‘ 7th Grade Civil Servant’) and screenwriter Kim Ji Woon (‘ Doctor John’, ‘ Hyde, Jekyll, Me’) collaborated project seemed to indicate a drama-narrative that would focus on mature and darker subject areas. However the mixed-reception amongst the audience towards the delivered result of ‘ Melancholia’ is admittedly understandable due to the drama’s delivered narrative and pacing.

The storyline is nearly concisely divided into a dual-narrative between the past and the present. The events of the past (2017) foregrounded some necessary backstory into the lives of optimistic and resilient mathematics teacher Ji Yoon Soo( Im Soo Jung) and stoic MIT dropout and prodigy Baek Seung Yoo( Lee Do Hyun). By following the events surrounding the false scandal setup by their school, viewers learn how “ melancholia” has now torn about their lives after a four-year time skip. The duo meet up again now with a rekindled objective to expose and bring down the corrupt system of the school once and for all.

Rom-com director Kim Sang Hyub ( ‘ True Beauty’, ‘ Extraordinary You’, ‘ 7th Grade Civil Servant’) is notoriously renowned in the industry (and even amongst fans) for his heavy reliance upon overused and generic soap-opera tropes . Therefore it should come as a surprise for those familiar with his past projects when Hyub announced his venture into ‘ Melancholia’ alongside his collaboration with screenwriter Kim Ji Woon (‘ Doctor John’, ‘ Hyde, Jekyll, Me’) as " completely different" from anything he had done before , there was certainly promising potential.

‘ Melancholia’ arguably delivered a presentation to viewers with Hyub clearly being out of his comfort zone . The drama maintained a lighter edge at times but clearly offered “ darker” explorations into realistic subject areas than some of Hyub’s previous projects. Naturally this presented many opportunities for ‘ Melancholia’ to tackle some realistic sociological themes from corruption by the rich, social hierarchies, the academic ranking-system in South-Korean education, peer pressure, bullying and public-shaming. ( To name just a few. )Yet it’s hard to deny that ‘ Melancholia’’s conveyed messages could sometimes be a difficult challenge for audiences to truly digest by the illusive and vivid palettes and schemes through cinematography often feeling like a presented decoy for audiences .

Of course uncertainty by directors unfamiliar to genres against time limits and deadlines given to them by the studios and production companies is to be expected with evident problems and flaws along the way. It was evident to see Hyub’s willingness throughout the drama to attempt something different. However in addition to Kim Ji Woon’s uncertainty towards interweaving genres with subtlety, ‘ Melancholia’ could often seem like the outcome of a balancing against vision and deliverance ;different genres crammed into a short duration length led to an evident and arising conflict between messages and pacing as episodes progressed.

The characters of the series were admittedly an intriguing range of individuals with a lot of potential to be more than meets the eye. Ji Yoon Soo and Seung Yoo had their own personal backstories and issues, whilst even the antagonistic forces of the series were far from being shoehorned into mere “ nefarious villainy” either. On the other hand Ji Yoon and Seung Yoo did have two notable flaws ( like many notable characters) in the series; they lacked deep-drive.

It’s important to establish that Ji Yoon and Seung Yoo’s own personal drives against plot-shaken drive are two different things. The two main leads certainly were useful assets to the storyline and helped to be “ subverted” by their experiences . However multilayered psyches which seeming intriguing characters were supposed to possessed were constantly submerged beneath the surface-lingering faintly, but rarely giving opportunities to breathing fresh air into shoehorned archetypes either.

Perhaps one of the few arguable exceptions to this fallacy was Noh Jung Ah( Jin Kyung); the antagonistic driving force of the series as the head director of Aseong High School who had some surprising moments of layered complexity against her role . Nevertheless Jung Ah was far from being flawlessly executed and many characters in the series seemed to suffer a similar fate.

The other quintessential point to note with consideration to ‘ Melancholia’ is that it isn’t a pining tale of love and woe. Whilst there are certainly elements of slow burn and gradual relationship development between Yoon Soo and Seung Yoo, their relationship is fairly platonic (for the most part) as they bond initially over their shared-goal and passion for mathematics. This naturally doesn’t diverge from watching the characters’ relationship grow but it admittedly does present focus ( romantic or not) upon the issue of healing. At times plot-drive did present focus upon this “ issue”. However there were few opportunities for both main leads to truly learn and develop from their experiences in a symbiotic manner; a process which is often key towards relationship developments ( platonic or romantic) in life and writing.

Sadly the main leads were not the only characters to suffer from the fate of writing. Side character Sung Ye Rin ( Woo Da Vi) had the potential to be one of the most intriguing characters of the series after her initial introduction and setup through her own personal fear of failure and disappointment. Nevertheless Ye Rin was rarely given her moments to be presented than anything more than a plot device; necessary to keep the storyline moving but rarely having her moments to shine in the series.

Of course it’s wrong to entirely critique ‘ Melancholia’ and pound the drama into the ground as " inadequate". For the most part the main cast were brilliant and aside from a few awkward line deliverances, powered through heavy dialogue and dragged-out scenes with ease. Actress Im Soo Jung was undeniably the perfect choice for Ji Yoon Soo, whilst costars Lee Do Hyun and Jin Kyung offered moments of dynamic charm and suaveness to important characters who viewers could’ve easily become disengaged with. The pacing arguably remained one of the drama’s greatest downfalls. Whilst the first-hand offered viewers with a slow but gradual revelations, the second-half began to cataclysmically descend into a dragged-out finale which whilst attempting to keep viewers on edge with "shocking" plot twists rarely carried through with an ending that whilst complete and pleasing, lacked greater impact.

Yet for a series which pledged itself as an ode and effectively a " love story" to a greatly complex subject such as mathematics being more than just numerical figures but a passion and tool for uncovering new depths, ‘ Melancholia’ could often find itself barren from passionate flare. Filming techniques used by Hyub were clean and slick but lacked a experimentation. Potentially vivid scenes which could’ve indicated more about the characters’ personalities and ideologies through the palettes used as well as how the world of mathematics is seen by our main protagonists was rarely brought to life onscreen.( Even the OST was a mere device for transcending certain emotions through vocals and instrumentals in scenes and endings when necessary but often could lack a lingering presence in the minds of viewers afterwards. )

Kim Sang Hyub’s ‘ Melancholia’ had an intriguing premise and certainly an impressive lineup. Nevertheless it was clear even to audiences that the drama marked uncharted territory into genres and styles not explored by director and screenwriter before. Whilst this did give opportunities for both Joon and Hyub to explore and play around with new forms and tones, it could often deliver a detrimental impact upon writing and pacing. Perhaps if the series had condensed its overstretched storyline into a shorter episode duration length or even given more golden opportunities to experimenting with styles, depth and character-writing, ‘ Melancholia’ could’ve escaped its mediocrity into an impressionable viewing experience for audiences.