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Record of Youth korean drama review
Completed
Record of Youth
0 people found this review helpful
by tessa2804
Apr 26, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

Fresh and loving drama


To be honest I’m surprised to see the amount of really negative reviews on here. I have to admit that it’s not my favorite K-drama of all time, but I did feel a lot of important messages coming through. I also really enjoyed the acting, the OSTs are great and I could actually see a lot of character development. I’ll point out some of my favorite things/storylines:

- One issue that a lot of reviewers mentioned was that An Jung ha was amazing at communicating at first but completely stopped in the last episodes. I do get why people find it confusing, because it’s such a big part of her character and also a very big and centered character trait of hers. But for me it did make a lot of sense. I can totally understand how a person could even lose such a dominant character trait when being troubled 24/7. They didn’t really see each other anymore, she slowly felt like the relationship wasn’t right anymore. I, myself, would say that I’m a good communicator and will always say if something’s not right, but I also had times where I was just exhausted from always communicating and speaking up, when I already feel something’s off in a relationship. So I do believe that a person, especially at such a young age and when having a flourishing career.
- I got really mad at Hye Joons dad at times, because I will never understand how you could treat a son like that. But i think that we have to take the relationship between Young Nam and Min Gi into account before accusing Hye Joons dad of anything. It did frustrate me at times, but I also know that cultures differ and that talking to your children like that is normal in some. I am a sucker for apologies from parents though, so I did bawl my eyes out in the last episode, both at the awards ceremony and the scene in Hye Joons room. The last episodes showed the depth of Young Nam and Min Gi, I did wish it would’ve happened a little earlier.
- I actually did enjoy that Hae Hyo did not try to make any moves on Jung Ha. He did have a huge crush and did spend a lot of time with her, but he always stayed loyal to his childhood friend. The trio friendship itself was very beautiful to witness. Although they did resent each other at times, they always found a way back to each other and communicated well. The boys really do love each other dearly and they grew to be adults, but will always be boys when together.
- Hae Hyos mom was terrible in my opinion and what she did was only hurting her children. She was selfish and only wanted her Hae Hyo to succeed so she could have her way. In the last few minutes of the last episode there was a complete turn around of her character and although I do believe that she has changed over Hae Hyos military time, but I just don’t like her in general and believe that she still is quite toxic. She did bring a lot of tension and drama to the series, so I did enjoy it.
- The romantic relationship between Jung Ha and Hye Joon was beautiful and youthful. They did have their faults and I did miss the passion at times, but it did fit both characters well to be super understanding. I did not like the open end in the beginning, but it has grown on me. In my imagination they definitely end up together and Jung Ha will finally meet Hye Joons family (and will learn what a loving family is).
- My favorite message that I received from this Drama was that no matter the age, you can always follow your dreams and make success out of it. I feel like a lot of young people, all over the world, have to chose a career path way to early. Seeing the grandfather do what he really enjoys and being successful by doing it, might inspire a lot of people to chose a career that actually makes them happy.

What I did not like is the following:
- I felt like the last episode was rushed and so many things were put in.
- I would’ve enjoyed to see more of Jung Has relationship with her mom. A lot of people wrote that they did not understand why it was even mentioned at all. I think that it showed the contrast between a functioning and not functioning family quite well. Hye Joons family wasn’t perfect at all, but they loved each other a lot and somehow always found their way back into each other’s arms.

If you enjoy really dramatic and kind of toxic storylines where the man chases the girl to the maximum and is the dominant one, DON’T watch this drama, because you will hate it.
I did really enjoy it, because it was a youthful and fresh approach to a typical storyline. I liked the character development of the main, but also of some side characters.
It changed my view on a lot of topics concerning Koreans society and it also changed how I see Korean celebrities, they do not have it easy.
Would definitely recommend if you don’t like rushed storylines and like a loving relationship between FL and ML!
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