Peaked at the first three episodes
This drama had a really great start, I was so drawn by the moving to small town and just live storyline but the feelings captured in the first episodes didn't string along during the rest of the drama. It started to drift apart from this by adding the crime-building plot, it wanted to include many characters and a lot of times the scenes that were supposed to be emotional felt shallow due to the script and the acting. Siwan did great and I can't wait to see more of his work but you could tell how his skills were more polished in comparison to Seolhyun. However, I can't criticize her a lot because her character written poorly. Yeorum was almost too perfect, she was almost always nice, naive, and helping everyone. It was unrealistic a bit boring and I couldn't relate to her. I also found strange the decision to make Yeorum friends with Bom and Jae Hoon since they are high schoolers. During the last three episodes, I skipped a lot of scenes because I was bored and wanted it to finish it. Overall, I'm disappointed but I don't regret watching it.Was this review helpful to you?
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What is happiness?
Happiness is a state where you lack nothing!I would like to write a review but apart from synopsis I do not know what to write about!The drama is bland, not boring but forgettable. Unfortunately!
Summer is the name of the main character who decides to spend the summer doing nothing in a seaside town! Therefore the title Summer Strike as stopping every professional activity by a person called Summer during a summer!
Yeo Reum is not very happy. Adepte of avoiding conflict, she is taken advantage of by everyone; work, friends and family. Until, one day she cannot take it anymore and, leaving everything behind and only with a backpack, she goes travelling. After a few days she finds herself in a charming little seaside town and she decides to stay there renting cheeply an abandoned building with a bad reputation. In the town she meets a prickly teen Bom (spring) and a mysterious librarian Dae Beom, she adopts a dog named Winter...(running joke, ha ha!) and slowly gets involved with the townspeople !
Summer Strike is a slice of life drama reminiscent of Hometown ChaChaCha but better as it does not exaggerate the local colourfullness or the fish out of water side of Yeo Reum. The librarian is a mysterious character who is silent during the first two episodes but is not mute. He is actually suffering from the PTSD and the reasons for it are slowly discovered.
There are two, maybe three, romances in this slow burn drama. The first one are a couple of teens who just go forward and connect. The second one is Yeo Reum and the Librarian whose love story is very slow burn really, really slow burn considering they fall for each other at first sight but take forever just to hold hands(last frame last episode! No kisses!). The third one is the longtime unrequited love by the local store owner for the librarian's friend who end up finally connecting.
The drama deals with the concept of happiness: what it means to each one of us? Is it professional success? Is it calm and uneventfull life? Is it loving someone from afar? Is it having enough to eat? Is it having a loving family?
There is a murder mystery involving the building Yeo Reum rents which makes certain events clearer!
This drama also touched upon a lot of issues but we were never offered a solution: abuse in workplace, bullying, prejudiced adults, local gangs, psychiatric problems, mental health in general etc...
They give us a general solution for everything: Stand up for yourself! The heaven helps those who help themselves! It is mostly true but I find it hard to accept because sometimes you need someone by your side to encourage you in order to be brave enough!
The actors did a great job. Im Si Wan is cute and secretive as usual. I love his voice and the way he speaks!
The music is nice but not memorable: it is there and that's all...
Slow burn dramas are my favourite genre and I love the slow development of characters and events. On the other hand I never rewatch them. The appeal of this kind of drama is in its pace, discovering things slowly, getting to know the characters slowly. If I had to rewatch it, I'd be probably bored out of my mind!
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Was a great healing drama ... until it wasn't
This was a great drama. It was a healing drama about how broken souls met up in the countryside and found renewed purpose and a new family.All up to near the end when they suddenly had to make it a murder mystery and rushed through the final episodes to complete everything in 12 episodes. Why is there a need to ruin a perfectly beautiful human drama? Not everything has to be a murder mystery.
The drama couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. In the midst of tragedy, suddenly it turned light hearted. It's as if there are two writers and they couldn't agree with each other.
Nonetheless, I'd still recommend watching up till episode 9 where it's a beautiful drama. Drop it right after that. However the only reason I'm watched it to the end is because I had fallen in love with the characters by then. Not a great reason to continue on but curiosity got the better of me.
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I Want To Run Away
This series genuinely made me want to up and move to a coastal town. It was so simple yet so powerful to me. The way the series was taken to the leads’ interactions and traumas to the cozy setting had me wanting to run away and experience an experience just like it.This drama started off so lighthearted and became something so much deeper. I was honestly not expecting the things that happened later on. I won’t go into detail because it’s something you should watch instead of asking questions about. This drama genuinely WAS a true summer story, though.
The delivery was so romantic and was genuinely exactly what I would expect from this type of drama. I realize I’m repeating myself tons of times but this drama was SUCH A GUST OF FRESH AIR STRAIGHT IN MY FACE. I watched it a few months earlier because of Siwan and Seolhyun but I was so surprised. Both of them looked amazing together and apart, they were almost built for these roles. I loved seeing Siwan display his versatility once again in his unique character this time, too. And Seolhyun? Seolhyun lived her role with everything she had and brought her to life. If I wasn’t straight, I’m pretty sure I would have fallen in love with her too. The romance in this drama is minimal, it’s there, but it’s kept at a low and I think I appreciate that. It shows how two introverts fall for each other and I live for it.
I genuinely think that this drama is a must-watch. I couldn’t explain it much because of the hidden complexity but there were just so many different things to learn from this drama. It isn’t the rom-com it seems to be and hides a multitude of morals and surprises under its masterful guise.
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It is enough!
What a beautiful and relatable show. It's one of those dramas where nothing appears to happen, but everything is happening. It's so wholesome and joyful. There is sadness, but that's life and it's so important to the development of some characters - then the finale becomes so satisfying. Safe to say it didn't suffer from the 12-episode Kdrama curse that I initially feared. Seolhyun was a revelation to me - having never seen any of her dramas - great acting. I didn't warm to Si-Wan in Run On but he was a great character in this with superb acting. The stand out however is Shin Eun-Soo - give that girl a main lead role in a big drama!This is a healing drama.
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Some dramas are perfect the way they are.
With 2022 nearing an end, watching this drama was a is actually a pleasant surprise. Not everyone is a fan of the slow romance genre; but dramas have seen success when taking that archetype, Mr.Sunshine being one of my favorites. This Drama cannot boast the same level of story telling, but after watching the likes of 2521 and Twentieth Century Girl, a slow paced healing drama is exactly what I needed. Sometimes a drama is perfect the way it is.We sometimes wish for our favorite dramas to be perfect. Everything from the music to the acting. But in doing so, many may get "lost in the sauce", completely neglecting what the message of the drama was supposed to be. Summer Strike is a slow paced healing drama, mostly in the perspective of a City Girl with a mundane and repetitive life, moving to the country and finding peace.
Yes, this drama take an unnecessary dark turn for the sake of plot development towards the later two-three episodes, with a surprising character shift, It doesn't takeaway from the healing tone of the drama itself. This drama will also make you wait for true romantic interactions between the ML and FL, even being robbed from a kissing scene at the end. Even through that, this drama tells a wonderful peaceful story of our FL coming from a hectic repetitive lifestyle and crapy boss to family issues, the journey the FL goes on is a satisfying one in the end. While relations between blood prove fickle, she is able to find true family and unconditional love.
I highly recommend this, if for nothing else, but for our gorgeous FL and ML. They are both beautiful to look at, not to mention the very much improved acting of actor Im Si-wan as well as a very pleasing performance by singer/actress Kim Seol-hyun (AKA Seolhyun). Please give this a watch and stick by it til the end.
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Slow Burn Healing Drama
It is a decent watch, the pace of the drama is slow and focuses more on the slice of life dynamics in the S. Korean countryside when a city girl from Seoul moves there to heal. The FL experiences the death of her mother, the breakup of her boyfriend, and the constant bullying and undermining of her in the workplace. She's stuck in a dead end job and her life in Seoul is falling apart. All of it is too much for the FL so she quits her job, sells almost everything she owns and with a leap of faith moves to the S. Korean countryside. The drama gently touches on themes of simple living, money vs time, and quality of life; these themes have resonated globally the last few years. These topics have made some question what is the meaning of their lives and does the rat race narrative fit into who they are and what they truly want. The Great Resignation, Lying Flat 谭平, and N포 세대 N-Give Up generation are examples of this.As for the love story itself, it is a slow burn and pretty conservative. The FL meets the ML when she moves to the countryside. The ML is a librarian, he seems to have trauma in his past that has led him down the path of a low key lifestyle as a part time librarian. The acting is done pretty well, the FL does a good job transitioning from being depressed and just staying afloat but not truly living to someone who embraces living slow, simply, and stepping away from a status and material chasing world. The ML suits his part very well, he is boyishly handsome, sweet, and has a shy soft gentle nature in his interactions with people in the small community.
If you want a light hearted slow burn romance story that touches on themes of healing, slowing down and meditative living, this is the drama.
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"people you briefly crossed paths with are sitting as passengers"
there are both bad and good things to this kdrama as there are for most. firstly, I really liked the premise and the plot (though, as you go on with the drama it feels like there's not an actual plot, not that that's a bad thing ig). the whole escaping life and finding the beauty in it when it becomes complacent, it started off very strong.. I could relate with how she felt at the start because I'm very close with my mum, and I liked that they added that because you don't just switch up your life completely without any large event happening. at least I don't think so.the only character that I actually liked though was dae bom, jae hoon and at times yeo reum. starting off, Yeo reum is this nice character who gets walked over and pushed around. I think she's very realistic, but there was a great lack of character development for her which was disappointing, especially since there was so much potential. with the death of the grandmother, she allows herself to be blamed again, and although she was grieving and it was difficult, it felt like there was no point to the 10 episodes in which we saw her going through life and somewhat changing her habits. with dae bom, I genuinely liked his character, genuine, sweet, and kind. he helps other people all the time without looking miserable and although ji young criticises the way he chooses to live his life, not in Seoul where he could be famous for his abilities but rather in angok living a quiet life, he is still content and just a kind character. but with his trauma, it felt like there was also no development. of course trauma does not just go away and is a long term thing, but it was just suppressed. I also hoped to see how they would address it and deal with it, but that also didn't happen. there was still more potential for the characters, but we got to ep 10 out of 12 and it's not seen. heo jae hoon is the sweetest character who deserves much better. he still has his flaws, but not huge character flaws. he chases after bom but I understand, he's seen as childish from the start and his personality is established, and he's also a teenager so it didn't feel frustrating, but it felt realistic. the rest of the characters can just be unbearable. ji young is so entitled and thinks she can control others in her life. she constantly criticises others' lives just because she is unhappy in her own. the landlord's son in downright mean and nasty to Yeo reom in the first few episodes then after a few he does a complete 180 and "oh he's just a bit immature and he doesn't know how to go about it". no, he's a grown man and even has a son. that excuse just doesn't work. the love trope with ji young also just felt unnecessary, but it wasn't too bad. but I disliked how she could mistreat people in her life but they would still be close to her. I hated how bom treated jae hoon. so apathetic to his feelings and I know she was supposed to be a positive character but how can I believe that when so is so uncaring even though she knows how much he cares about her, and he was there for her as her only friend at times. there are so many characters I could go on and on about, because they are written so badly and difficult to sympathise with.
another issue I have with this drama is the murder plot in episode 10. it's typical kdrama content but felt so unnecessary. the same thing was also done in hometown cha cha cha, with gam ri's death but it felt different. in hometown, it was a drama about the beauty of life and it was a feel-good, small town drama which was in some ways similar to this one, although I much prefer hometown. in that drama, it was not to add drama or make a suspenseful plot, but rather to show that there can be grief in life but it is still beautiful and worth living, and there can still be happy endings. and that death does not always have to be sad as she lived a long and happy life with the ones she loved and to value your loved ones, like her son wished he did. with this drama, I can't say the same as I didn't get any of those aspects with the grandmother's death. im confused as to why they decided to introduce a new plot 2 episodes before the end, and I doubt that they can adequately finish it without it feeling rushed or incomplete, my hopes honestly aren't high.
another issue, bom being STABBED?? that was insane to me. it was wild. it was brushed over after about half an episode and she was miraculously better with little recovery time, but that is a common thing in kdramas. I can't say much on how the people around her thought that she should forgive her father and Yeo reum saying that he's still nonetheless her dad. it just felt a bit cold to me, as they didn't even try and sympathise with her and they would have no idea how she's feeling. however, addiction is an issue and I'm glad they dealt with it properly, with him going to rehab and later trying to fix things with his children. but that shit was crazy to me.
I did, however, like the monologue in ep 10, although it did seem at times like it was trying to overly victimise Yeo reum (even if she was the victim) and it did erase any development over the episodes when she said "I never should've come here." it wasn't too surprising as she did say it previously but I thought that dae bom squashed her doubts about that. I understand to an extent though as it's natural in that situation to blame yourself, but it's not a good way to deal with it. I also understand her deciding to leave. I liked the analogy of the bus and her bringing in her mother again, who was obviously very important to her.
other aspects of the drama, the cinematography was good but nothing special. I liked the ost and it was probably my favourite aspect of the kdrama tbh. the music fit the situations and scenes and it fit the vibe of the episodes, cute, healing, small town scenery (excluding ep 9 & 10) my favourite actor of course was dae bom's actor. I also watched 2 other of his kdramas where his character was similar to dae beom, the wholesome green flag and he nailed it every time.
sorry for the long review but I think I covered everything here. overall this is an average drama but disappointing because of its potential. I also heard good things about the webtoon which makes it even more disappointing. despite it all though, it was fun to watch at times. I like the episode where they went on a trip and the talk that Yeo reum and dae bom had.
hopefully the last 2 episodes can somewhat redeem it!!
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The Despicable and Deplorable People of Angok!
If you're looking for something along the lines of "Hometown Cha Cha Cha," you will be sadly disappointed. And if you're looking for a mystery/thriller along the lines of "Stranger" or "Flower of Evil" you will also be disappointed. "Summer Strike" is not a romantic series, despite the presumptions one might get as the series begins, and the story is far darker than one might anticipate. In many ways, the writers seem unsure of the story. In many ways, the writers seem unsure of the story they want to tell. The romantic scenes have little-to-no chemistry between the leads, and we're left with a town of despicable, moody, and angry people who aren't very appealing.Yeo Reum Lee is a 28-year-old woman who acts like she's 18 at best. She's basically a doormat for anyone to use and abuse. She never speaks or stands up for herself and frequently makes poor choices based on the smallest influences from those around her. She's a pleaser who lacks the ability to stand on her own two feet. She's neither a mature nor a strong woman. She flees Seoul for the small seaside town of Angok, hoping to simply live an easy and frugal life. The big question is: is Yeo Reum running toward something or running away? The more we observe Yeo Reum, we can see that she doesn't change. She leaves one abusive life for another because she refuses to see that SHE is the problem. When you move from one place to another, you take your problems with you. They don't get left behind.
Kim Seol Hyun is the weakest of all the actors in this series. She just can't seem to get a handle on her character while frequently uttering her lines in a soft, breathless manner. When she's being chased by the police officer, she doesn't shout at the taxi driver to keep going, she softly says in a mousy voice, "Please don't stop. Please keep going!" Nobody in that situation would react that way! Especially a woman! Kim Seol Hyun can't even manage to put panic into her voice. She was a poor choice for the female lead of this series.
You can pretty much go down the line of characters that will leave you cringing. Arguably the worst is Ji Young Jo, who works at the library, has feelings for her co-worker and childhood friend, Da Beom An, and treats him like an overbearing mother hen. There is scarcely anything appealing about this woman who snaps and barks at everyone around her. She also does her absolute best to control and manipulate Da Beom into living the life that SHE thinks is best, without taking any consideration for his feelings. I'm not sure I've seen many characters in 45+ years of television who are as deplorable as well as lacking in any positive qualities. I'm not sure how anyone would ever find this woman as being attractive or appealing. She's as horrid as a snake with fangs at both ends!
Don't get me wrong, I liked Granny for her sweetness, even though she's a very weak-willed woman who has zero control over her son or anyone else. She's told-even by her grandkids--what to do. She is a perfect example of how Yeo Reum will likely be when she gets to be the same age. I'm not sure what kind of a grandmother would summarily dismiss an attack on her granddaughter and ask her to lie to the police in order to avoid sending the father (her son) to jail. What kind of a family member--who has ANY love or integrity--would make such a decision? It was heinous and sadistic. You would support a man who is physically abusive as well as being a raging alcoholic who nearly kills his own daughter?!
A big issue with Yeo Reum Lee and Granny is their inability to speak up--especially when they NEED to speak up! If you're not a part of the solution, then you are a part of the problem. And it's people like these two who help keep the cycle of abuse going because they are too afraid to do the right thing--and do right by others--and speak up. Make no mistake, by not saying anything, they are just as responsible for the abuse as those who are doing the abusing, which is another reason why I disliked these characters so much. And people who are too afraid to properly discipline their children, are child abusers themselves.
It seems that Chang Soo's wife can only ever vent her anger on everyone around her, including the physical abuse of a little dog. This woman is hateful, and where we are supposed to be sympathetic, all we see is a vile woman who cannot see beyond her own tragedies and problems.
This is actually true for most of the series; moments when--if we felt any kind of REAL emotional connection-we should feel sympathetic toward many of these characters. Kim Bom and Da Beom are the only two characters in the series for whom I felt some sympathy.
For the most part, this series is very dry, uneven, and disjointed, and it doesn't venture deep enough for us to really gain some perspective on characters like Da Beom and Kim Bom. Frankly, the series would have been better served had these two been the focal points of the story. Yeo Reum is hardly appealing, and by the end of the series, I couldn't have cared less about her situation. She was mostly annoying, and by the end of the series, it's clear that she hasn't learned a thing or shown any kind of growth. She's very much like a woman who's never grown up.
Despite all of these problems, the show works for the most part. I'm glad it didn't go beyond 12 episodes because the series was starting to limp toward the finish line at the end. We get the wrapping up of a mystery that already had a very weak foundation and hints of possible romance between the two leads that had no warmth or chemistry to it. Even when Da Beom is hurt or in pain, Yeo Reum just stands there, offering little-no comfort.
Angok is a dark and dismal town compared to the one from "Hometown Cha Cha Cha" filled with angry, immature people who gripe and complain about everything. There's nothing so sad as one person playing the victim as a whole town doing the same. And that isn't inspiring storytelling at all. It's sad, and not in a good way.
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Seol Hyun Shines
It took me 1 1/2 years to complete this drama, because1)Slow beginning
2)Fl’s drunk episode
3)ML mumbling
4)FL started out a tad bit unlikeable
But once I got past episode (6) it’s actually a decent drama.
No other actress could have pulled off the leading lady role, Seol Hyun’s fresh faced beauty, her flowing locks, her infectious smile…. I put her in the top (5) of all Korean Actresses.
The other actors all did a good job.
Bom grows on you over time, the other characters have decent growth arcs.
***Slight Spoiler Warning***
The antagonists, there’s more than one are well written and surprising.
I would have given this a higher rating if not for the use of the ubiquitous KDrama “drunken plot device”
Please KDrama use this a bit more judiciously, I employ you.
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I loved our two introverts, they were so calming and understanding of each other, and I love how we still got some funny scenes of them together, capturing some awkwardness! I also really enjoyed the music and most of the characters. The second female lead got on my last nerve from the very beginning, I did not like her. The way she was pushing Dae Beom into academics without even knowing the consequences, or judging Yeo Reum for calling him "Dae Beom-ssi" instead of Mr. Librarian was just super annoying. Just because she's been friends with him since forever, she thinks she can make decisions for him or judge his relationship with the female lead?? At times, she seemed more like his mom than a friend (in love). I also never warmed up to Geun Ho's mom, I found her terrible. "Countryside attitude" - these countryside people were bullying a young woman for no reason (or rather for something that was not her fault.... did they want her to be homeless??). Their so-called attitude was just bad behavior and rudeness, nothing else.
I liked the simplicity of the lead's day-to-day encounters, and how committed Dae Beom was to Yeo Reum: knowing when she comes to the library each day, coming for her when he hears that something happened, leaving Seoul to come back to Angok etc. Their relationship didn't need much but I feel their bond was so strong and I like to believe that at one point they got married and moved in together lmao. I also did not mind the turn of events in the last episodes, some people thought it was unnecessary but I think it was fine.
Overall, a really nice little show!
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