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"Dream High (2011)" Really Makes It Shine Better Than Nickelodeon's "Victorious" IMHO


I wonder if I'm just being biased or not considering January 3, 2021, was the 10th birthday of Dream High - a series that was shown on ABS-CBN (dubbed) and I later watched it on Netflix (subbed). I was thinking about the time I wasn't so much into Korean series (yet) until I felt Japanese entertainment was on the decline or that I just needed a break from it. I can't deny that Dream High is obviously J-Drama inspired. They even had episodes in Japan and their theme song even has a Japanese cover. The series is pack full of Japanese influence and K-Pop is obviously inspired by J-Pop. Though, I'd rather really use Dream High to bash one Nickelodeon show that I used to watch until it got so stale. That show is Victorious and I feel like Stephen Hillenburg did the RIGHT THING to leave Nickelodeon. 

How does Dream High actually end up making it shine better than Victorious? One thing I really hate (now) about American humor is how often character development is ignored. It's like how I wish Spongebob Squarepants got canceled because it's just getting stale after the movie. Victorious seems to carry that trend A LOT. The characters in Victorious hardly get any development such as Kat who ends up becoming more annoying than funny. Dream High doesn't have that much eye candy (except for Suzy Bae who I compare to Victoria Justice) but makes it up for it with one thing Victorious needs -- CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!

There are really some tropes getting played that may be similar to Victorious. I could see Hye Mi as the character surrounded by stupid people. Hye Mi's father ends up entering into a debt trap. Hye Mi later has her Baek Hee who proves friendship isn't all rainbows and teddy bears. Baek Hee is typically like Jade in Victorious but she gets better. The characters enter into trials such as non-dramatic love triangle between Sam Dong and Jin Guk over Hye Ri. There's also the issue of Sam Dong possibly losing his hearing. There's also that jealousy Baek Hee has for Hye Mi because of her crush on Jin Guk. The characters' misadventures start to develop them as people. Maybe even better is that there's really NO Kat from Victorious to ruin things further. I actually wanted to consider Sam Dong as the Robby of Victorious for this series -- except he got better. The characters all grow up slowly but surely such as Baek Hee goes from mean girl to becoming better.

How does the series end? People part their ways. I felt it was good that the second season (though I hear it's not that good) had an entirely different cast. The first season ended on a high note. I wanted to celebrate this season with an episode by episode review but I decided not to. Instead, I decided to write this tribute while I seek to check out other older and newer stuff in this digital age. 

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