You know that I don’t like to waste what little time I have on “hate-watching.” Just look at the number of dramas with less than 5 entries on the blog. Unless the series is such a train wreck that I’ve to stay till the end to satisfy my morbid curiosity, I drop the shows I don’t care for.

As I said before I’m a serial dater; I treat the premiere of a drama like I would a blind date. If it gives me “good vibes” on the first date, then I’ll arrange to meet it again next week. I usually give a new kdrama series four weeks to impress me. If it’s not up to my standards, I’ll know for certain by Episode 8.

Keeping this “blind date” analogy in mind, I’ll have to confess that “Cheer Up” isn’t my type. Here are my four reasons.

1. I find the lead actress unattractive.

There are faces that aren’t aesthetically pleasing to my eye.

Park Eun Bin: bland, robotic face.
Chae Soo Bin: the ingenue look doesn’t suit her.
Han So Hee: her jawline.
And Im SooHyang: I don’t know whether she had plastic surgery or not (not my business, anyway). But her nose looks peculiar.

I’ll add this actress, Han JiHyun, to my list. She reminds me of a horse.

source: minideegifs’ tumblr

It’s a matter of personal taste. She’ll be okay as a villain or secondary character, but not as a female lead.

2. Bae In-Hyuk = Mickey Mouse

With his cheerleading moves, Bae In-Hyuk looked like Mickey Mouse in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”

Who did it better? Bae In-Hyuk or

Mickey?

His movements weren’t exactly a turn-off. But I can’t take him seriously as a romantic male lead after seeing his cheer routine.

3. Not only is the actress Han JiHyun’s face unappealing, but her character is obnoxious, too.

She got four strikes me in the first half of Episode 1.

a. She saw the lovely amphitheater, and she instantly defaced it by writing her name on it.

Her reason? Because she wanted to leave her mark for the future.

My reaction when I watched this scene:

Ugh! I can’t stand girls who don’t think AND feel entitled. Would happen if the other freshmen students like her began writing their names on the marble just because they FELT like leaving their marks too?

I get that she’s poor and she’s excited to study at this expensive private university. But she must have left her brain at home if she thought she could vandalize school property like that simply because she was ecstatic to be there.

b. Her character is projecting neither spunk nor “joie de vivre” but her chip-on-the-shoulder for being poor.

c. Spiteful and disrespectful

I also get it that she was hurt when she overheard her boyfriend talking to his buddy about wanting to break up with her. The boyfriend said she was too much too handle.

However, the boyfriend was talking privately to his friend. He was confiding in his friend about his lost feelings for her. He wanted to move on but hadn’t figured out a way to tell her yet.

She, on the other hand, decided to air her problem with him in front of a whole group of strangers. She chose to make their break-up a public spectacle as a revenge. Her action was spiteful, over-the-top and uncalled for.

Boyfriend: Do HaeYi? What happened to you? You went off the grid and wouldn’t answer your phone.
Friend of BF: Your girlfriend.
Ugly Female Lead: Lee JaeHyeok. Let’s break up.
Boyfriend: What?
Ugly Female Lead: I tried to hold back (pointedly looks at his crotch) but you’re too small.

This is 100% uncool. Let’s just reverse this scenario, shall we? What if the boyfriend went up to her, and looked at her crotch (or her boobs) and said that her vagina or her boobs didn’t measure up? Would that funny? Sassy? Or cruel?

Boyfriend: (he glances down too)
Ugly Female Lead: (delivering her punchline) Your heart, that is.

Everybody around them snickered. Someone in the crowd even dared to say the quiet out loud.

Ugly Female Lead: And to be honest, I’m too much for you to handle, right?

Then she turned around and left in a huff. She probably thought that her parting shot was witty because it referred to what she’d overhead him say to his buddy.

To me, this scene just made her look juvenile and retaliatory. Please if you’re a teenager reading this blog, take notes. The mature way to break-up for the female lead is to:

a. do it in private
b. admit feeling hurt
c. cite the reasons for being hurt
d. be upfront about the situation, but NOT brutal
e. take the high road, instead of the low road

I can forgive this actress’ face because who knows? it may eventually grow up on me. But I can’t forget what an obnoxious character she had been in Episode 1.

To me, the female lead is like a date who rudely berates a waiter for making a mistake.

gifs from alderaans’ tumblr

source: alderaans’ tumblr

4. Then, the 2nd male lead was…???

Is this a show low-budget film? What’s up with these newbies? Where did the director get them?

The actor playing the 2nd male lead has the charisma of a flagpole. He’s tall, but that’s about it.

5. Then, the whole plot is messy.

a. Sure, a love triangle is brewing, but I can’t see the appeal in the female lead.

b. It’s a college romance but none of the students is seen actually doing anything academic.

But there’s a lot of twirling around by the female lead like she’s some sort of manic, hyperactive Tinkerbell, though.

c. A “curse” serves as the primary conflict in the story.

Basically, the male lead has to prove that the Cheering Squad is essential to the school. If he fails to do so, then the club will lose its monetary budget from the Student Services, and there’ll be no alternative but to close the club.

That’s the conflict in a nutshell.

However, the drama tries to create intrigue by turning this straight-forward budgetary problem into a supernatural, curse-driven problem.

Ugh! You know I don’t believe in superstitions, right? I’m not into that mumbo-jumbo.

With the introduction of this curse element, the Cheer Squad is then fighting their fate of doom.

The curse began like this —

Student 1: Is there something behind the Cheer Squad? What’s with the three prophecies?
Student 2: Don’t you know about Theia’s three prophecies?

Just an FYI for the Bitches here: The Cheer Squad’s name is taken from Greek mythology. Theia is the Greek goddess of sight and prophecy.

Student 2: (continuing) They’re in trouble in many ways this year. One of the Theia members became a shaman. Right after he became a shaman 20 years ago, he came on homecoming day and made three prophecies, calling them a gift from him.

Flashback to the two previous prophecies.

“In 2002, when the country is dancing in an ocean of red, the Cheer Squad will also be bustling in an ocean of red.” That year, there was a fire (red is associated with fire) in the Cheer Squad room. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

“Second, four legs will be broken in the Cheer Squad in 2011.” That year, there was a stage accident and four of the cheerleaders broke a leg.

Student 2: (continuing) Now, the third prophecy is the most important and that’s supposed to be this year.

Aside from my personal dislike for curses and superstitions used as a plot device, the curse trope is so unoriginal.

Obviously, the hero and his merry gang of misfits will work their tail off to beat the prophesy.
They’ll form strong bonds of friendship.
They’ll face their toughest opponents.
They’ll win over their loudest critics.
They’ll achieve their dreams.
And blah blah blah.

But given the lackluster cast, I’m not interested in seeing how they’ll survive their college years, and reunite in the present time.

d. Then, there’s this mysterious ghost from the male lead’s past.

Again, this is so predictable.

Bae In-Hyuk is scarred for life.
He’s haunted by a tragic accident involving his sister or some noona.
The love of the Female Lead will heal him.
He’ll become a better man.

I don’t mind clichés in romcoms as long as they’re given a fresh take. But the screenwriter and director of this drama aren’t even trying to create their tropes and clichés a new spin.

Take for instance the Female Lead’s first encounter of Bae In-Hyuk in the dark alley. The director/writer teased the viewers with a bit of mystery by not showing the stranger’s face.

But why bother? Who else could it be? It could only be Bae In-Hyuk.

And you know what else bugs me about this scene? If the situation was reversed, and it was the guy who restricted her movement and covered her face, she’d be biting, clawing and kicking him.

Look: Y’all know that I’m not into dimples. But if the only thing that I’m looking forward to in this show is Bae In-hyuk’s dimples, then that’s a bad sign.

source: kdramakisses.com

My final verdict: This drama is two thumbs down for me. Dating this drama isn’t going to cheer me up; it’ll infuriate me.