kingsqueen
USA
Unexpectedly beautiful with a bittersweet ending
I wasn't expecting much going into this show. I honestly felt like I would watch about half an episode and give it up. But, as she did in Mr. Sunshine, Kim Tae Ri sucked me in with her beautiful acting. Na Hee Do was such a dynamic character, and KTR played her so perfectly. The nostalgia will hit hard in this one if you are a certain age, and the memories of youth, best friends, and first loves may stir within you. That feeling of freedom as you are about to embark upon adulthood and all the promise it holds. If you are a fan of the Reply series, you may well enjoy this as it invokes those same nostalgic feelings. The growing friendship between Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin that bloomed from friendship to love caused us to all root for them desperately, even knowing that it seems that something disrupts the trajectory of their pure love for one another.
The acting and depth of character was what kept me going. Kim Tae Ri is simply a captivating actress. She was completely believable as a high school student despite the actress actually being 30. Nam Ji Hyuk's performance was quite improved since I saw him last, as was Bona. This was probably the best performance I've seen from Bona thus far. She usually comes off as whiny and immature, but her acting is much improved. Choi Hyun Wook was a new face for me. I saw somewhere that he was compared as a young Park Seo Jun and I can see it, so I hope to see more of him in the future. Lee Joo Myung was also new for me, but I enjoyed her character as well. Although she was more of a fifth wheel in the group, I would have liked to have seen more development for her character and more of a connection within the group.
I'm rating this drama as a 9 because I looked forward to every episode, got a lot of enjoyment from it, and it was such a surprise bit of beauty. I adored the friendship/ rivalry between Hee Do and Yu Rim - almost the same amount as I loved the romance between Hee Do and Yi Jin. I loved the group dynamic of all the friends together, and was invested in how they grew and changed as they moved from high school into adulthood. The challenges they overcame, the sacrifices they made, and the passion they had in their youth. I was not expecting this drama to move me so much with it's simple beauty.
I was fully expecting to give this show a 10, and only failed to do so because I was hoping, rather foolishly, for a different ending. But in the absence of that, I felt that the ending was a bit rushed with the closure. I also felt that in the end, it wasn't necessary to have even had the two timelines (past and present) as it added nothing to the story. And although she did a fine job, I didn't think that it was necessary to change the actress playing Na Hee Do in the present day. She lacked the same depth that Kim Tae Ri brought to the character, and caused me to feel disconnected from her during those parts. The past was not connected to the present in any meaningful way at all.
I still think it is a very worthwhile watch, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is interested in a drama about friendship and first love that was handled with a lot of maturity.
The acting and depth of character was what kept me going. Kim Tae Ri is simply a captivating actress. She was completely believable as a high school student despite the actress actually being 30. Nam Ji Hyuk's performance was quite improved since I saw him last, as was Bona. This was probably the best performance I've seen from Bona thus far. She usually comes off as whiny and immature, but her acting is much improved. Choi Hyun Wook was a new face for me. I saw somewhere that he was compared as a young Park Seo Jun and I can see it, so I hope to see more of him in the future. Lee Joo Myung was also new for me, but I enjoyed her character as well. Although she was more of a fifth wheel in the group, I would have liked to have seen more development for her character and more of a connection within the group.
I'm rating this drama as a 9 because I looked forward to every episode, got a lot of enjoyment from it, and it was such a surprise bit of beauty. I adored the friendship/ rivalry between Hee Do and Yu Rim - almost the same amount as I loved the romance between Hee Do and Yi Jin. I loved the group dynamic of all the friends together, and was invested in how they grew and changed as they moved from high school into adulthood. The challenges they overcame, the sacrifices they made, and the passion they had in their youth. I was not expecting this drama to move me so much with it's simple beauty.
I was fully expecting to give this show a 10, and only failed to do so because I was hoping, rather foolishly, for a different ending. But in the absence of that, I felt that the ending was a bit rushed with the closure. I also felt that in the end, it wasn't necessary to have even had the two timelines (past and present) as it added nothing to the story. And although she did a fine job, I didn't think that it was necessary to change the actress playing Na Hee Do in the present day. She lacked the same depth that Kim Tae Ri brought to the character, and caused me to feel disconnected from her during those parts. The past was not connected to the present in any meaningful way at all.
I still think it is a very worthwhile watch, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is interested in a drama about friendship and first love that was handled with a lot of maturity.
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