The WONDERfools Review

The drama has two songs, and everything else is film score, so I will not rate the music this time. However, I enjoyed moments when "Creep" by Radiohead played.

The song was a perfect fit not only for the characters but also for the whole town.

How much did you enjoy "The WONDERfools"?

"The WONDERfools" was directed by Yoo In Shik, with a screenplay by Heo Da Jung and original story by Kang Eun Kyung.

Director Yoo In Shik is very well-balanced in the way that I either end up loving or hating his dramas. It's mostly because of the storyline, as I put my focus on so maybe it's a bit less pressure on him.

It was very obvious that he had a lot of fun directing the drama, by the way it was made. It seemed like this was a perfect time for Yoo In Shik to experiment, and it went really well.

For example, one scene was shot from Chae Ni's point of view, while she was sitting down, and she tried to understand what was happening while everything went into chaos.

The editing in the series was amazing. Seemingly nothing hard at times, but it makes the scene look cooler, like the time when we saw the brainwasher's face turning into Un Jeong's hand that is choking Chae Ni.

Kang Eun Kyung has worked a few times with director Yoo In Shik in the past. In dramas such as the "Dr Romantic" series. However, seeing her as the original creator of "The Atypical Family", "The WONDERfools" makes so much more sense.

They're all a bit weird, with superpowers, but fun to watch. I hope she creates more of these because it's very amusing!

For a screenwriter, Heo Da Jung, I don't have much to say. I remember starting "Extreme Job", but it didn't hit me with the humour, and I didn't finish it. However, this was a bit different in the comedy aspect, though there are some similarities.

I'm not sure if it was because the situations were so absurd or what, but "The WONDERfools" redeemed the screenwriter for me.

Directing: 10/10

Synopsis of "The WONDERfools"

Set against the backdrop of 1999, when widespread doomsday fears gripped the public, the story follows the unexpected rise of unlikely heroes in Haeseong City.

Eun Chae Ni, a spirited and unpredictable young woman living with her grandmother, finds her ordinary life upended when she and her neighbours, Son Gyeong Un and Kang Ro Bin, become entangled in a mysterious incident that grants them supernatural abilities.

Amid a series of unexplained disappearances, they join forces with Lee Un Jeong, a principled yet socially distant civil servant from Seoul, whose involvement adds further complexity to the unfolding mystery. With Haeseong City’s safety at stake and tensions escalating, this unlikely group must confront both external dangers and their own shortcomings in a race to preserve peace in an increasingly uncertain world. (MyDramaList)

Spoiler-Free Review

This has been a very funny drama if you're into absurd humour and superheroes.

"The WONDERfools" start a bit slowly, but find their ground quite quickly and stay consistent till the end.

There are still some parts that needed a bit more explanation, but it was such a good time that I barely noticed the flaws.

It had these quirky characters that only have each other, and their tight-knit friendship was a wonderful thing to see. Even when the new person (Un Jeong) comes into the group, they're so ready to welcome him, but of course, it's mostly because he can teach them something.

In between these funny moments, there are heartfelt ones too. The backstories of the kids, and even Chae Ni gets to have a scene to reflect on herself and her being.

I wouldn't compare it much to "Moving"; both of the dramas are superhero ones, but this has taken more of a comedic route and is more outrageous in the way that is funny, while "Moving" is another sort of beast.

And "The WONDERfools" have stood out wonderfully on their own.

Even after finishing the drama, it doesn't need a second season (though I wouldn't mind one), and it had its own tail to tell.

Now let's move into the spoilers part of the review:

Overall: 9/10

Let's look at the storyline of "The WONDERfools"

The drama perfectly leans on the characters who are a bit weird and kind of the outcasts even in their own town.

The first episode lets you learn about them, while drawing the bigger picture with the mystery happening behind their backs and absurd comedy. It can seem a bit too much at times, but personally, the mystery of what is happening in the town drew me in.

You really have to enjoy the absurdist comedy in the drama. At first it took me off guard, but it had some really fun moments, especially between the trio, and it fit the whole storyline.

The plot gets thicker in the later half of the drama.

We get to know more about wunderkinder and the experiments the kids had to go through. The story with the eternal child was also very interesting but sad, and it just showed how much trauma each of them carried.

However, as much as I enjoyed the fighting scenes in episode 7th, the whole plot was moving so slowly and dragged a bit. It was very obvious they tried to drop the lore and wrap everything up in the last episode, but it would have been more enjoyable if they had done it sooner, or if the episode didn't feel as slow.

With that in mind, there wasn't much explanation about their powers, for example, the points where Chae Ni appeared. It was mentioned for a tiny bit that she would come back after some time to the same place, but there were moments when she never returned.

The plot armour has worked really hard throughout the drama.

You can get stabbed, blown by a bomb, but nothing like that matters if you're part of our superheroes. This did not bother me much, as it has this absurd comedy throughout, but if you look more deeply into it, you will see the plot holes.

Before starting "The WONDERfools", I've seen one edit of the leads and their romantic moment. When the kiss scene happened, it actually caught me off guard, but somehow it was so perfectly placed. You see them both care about each other, and it makes sense why he did it.

There were also sparks that couldn't be denied between them.

Storyline: 9/10

Main characters of "The WONDERfools", character pictures taken from Asianwiki.

It's so absurd that it's funny. The whole town is a bit weird but knows each other well, and of course, knows our weirdoes really well.

Chae Ni was my favourite character. Yes, she's weird and sometimes can be too much, but at the same time she's so alive. She wants to do so many things, and feels a bit suffocated because of her grandmother, but she still doesn't give up on her quirkiness.

She had a great backstory, and finding out about her heart was an amazing way to portray Chae Ni's softer side. How guilty she feels towards the eternal child and the experiments the children had experienced.

Lee Un Jeong was a nice character in all this weirdness, as he somehow felt the most normal one.

I wished we would've seen him opening up a bit more, but as an introduction to him, this was a nice portrayal.

Son Gyeong Un and Kang Ro Bin were wonderful comedic relief. Ro Bin lacks a bit of a backstory and where he was coming from, but I liked the story of how he became friends with Chae Ni.

And Gyeong Un's story made me actually feel sadder than some other stuff. His wife never believes him, while he is doing everything she tells him, and I didn't really like their dynamic.

The moment in the last episode where she finally realises that her husband was actually telling the truth all the time made it a bit better, but as soon as she forgets about it, she gets back to being the same.

It was a bit too toxic for my liking.

However, the friendship between these four people had been an amazing watch. The way they bicker, but still support each other to the very end, even when one of them makes a mistake, it becomes just a funny joke.

For the side characters, I actually really enjoyed Ho Ran's story. The way they told it was very natural and heartfelt. This is how I felt for all of the wunderkinders.

Their motivation to stick with father, even if it was toxic, made me realise that they are still in the same place after so many years. They're still reliving their trauma, and hanging on to the hope that something can be changed.

It perfectly showed how abusive relationships can be, and how sometimes you don't see anything beyond that.

Characters: 8.5/10