Sassy Go Go

School drama is like crack to me, I just can't get enough, and Sassy Go Go embodies a lot of what I like about school romances -more on that later. It's a little drama about love and friendship, and at twelve episodes (which is unusually short for a Korean drama, since they tend to be sixteen episodes or more) it's short and snappy, which I always prefer over the shows not run and run until they're no longer welcome.

Sassy Go Go stars Jung Eun-ji as Kang Yeon-doo. She attends the prestigous Sevit High School, a boarding school which favours the students with good grades and good connections and puts down the rest. As part of the 5% of the students in the school that don't achieve, Yeon-doo has felt the sting of that discrimination time and time again. Her only solace is Real King, a dance club created by these underachievers where they have some breathing space. As much as they try to remian upbeat, with Baek Ho - a club for the top 5% of students disguised as a cheerleading squad but in actuality does nothing of sort - right next door, it isn't easy. These two clubs are constantly at odds with eachother, and Yeon-doo can never seem to win against Baek Ho's smartmouthed leader Kim Yeol. Yeon-doo was satsified enough with Real King, though, so when the school closes it down she just can't sit back. She decides it's time to fight the system, and when attention in drawn to this, the only solution is to merge Baek Ho and Real King into a real cheerleading team, even though no-one wants that.

I like how realistic Sassy Go Go is about the corruption within the school system. Considering how light and breezy this drama appears for the posters, I love how they turned this into a story about the most unfortunate underdog and how she wants happiness so much she's willing to do anything for it. they show started off like that, and then it became a story about hope - about how you can find geninue friends and support in the most unexpected of places. Under the candy colours of Sassy Go Go, there are some morals anyone can relate to, and I hope writers will try to tap into what made it so raw and uplifting.

  Jung Eun-ji was a perfect Kang Yeon-doo. I'm happy that she was able to portray such a sassy, passionate heroine in an emotional way that made her struggles seem all too real. She starred in Reply 1997 a few years back, and as much as I loved that show, I often found her character so outlandish. I think she's far more charming here. Kim Yeol, played by Lee Won-geun, was also fantastic. His blunt but playful attitude was absolutely hilarious, and when he was more quick-witted than the teachers I was just sold. The two of them had great chemistry and despite how mismatched their characters were as a pairing - one clever and privelleged, the other downtrodden but persistent - I loved every moment they shared the screen and I can play their moments over and over again without tiring.  The rest of the line-up was just as good; Ji Soo was as adorable as ever after Angry Mom and Chae Soo-bin was bitter and commanding as the most unhinged drama villain I've seen since Last Cinderella. The rest of the ensemble cast had their own quirks and appeal, which just made this show even better.

To conclude, Sassy Go Go is an example of how great a school-romance drama can be when it uses it's potential. I've seen so many school-based stories where the school was just a backdrop, where it isn't part of the conflict, but then how is it about school? The way the school's corruption was both the fuel that caused the all wrongdoings of the villains, but was also used as a means to tie together two groups of very different people, just proves that the writer utilised their setting well. This drama struck just the right balance between being very, very cute and deeply rewarding. Therefore, I recommend.