Begins Youth (2024)

Hopeful Bond Against the Dark Odds

“It bothers me when one out of every seven of us is missing. I don’t know why, but I just don’t like it. I hope we can be all together. When we are all together, I don’t even think about wanting to die.”

This drama is an adaptation of BU and I'm glad it's really good. Despite some changes, they did an excellent job on the build up between the characters and their relationships, along with the actors' portrayal and chemistry. From the awkward first meetings to building trust with each other and getting closer together. I love watching their friendship and brotherhood despite their different backgrounds and problems. They unite to become each others' ray of light amidst the struggles they faced during the darkness of their separate lives. This drama is so heartwarming with the precious found family trope. But at the same time, the dark themes about their childhood traumas and family secrets are so emotional and intriguing.

This drama is so meaningful and deep while tackling various social issues about dysfunctional family, mental illness, discrimination, poverty, politics, education and more. The mystery regarding the past of their parents and connection to the principal shows how generational trauma starts and their children bearing the pain of their mistakes. Innocent teenagers are forced to suffer due to the evil adults that comes from each of their different environments. This drama is a reflection of reality that conveys important messages while providing consolation and angst to the youth who are beginning to face the world.

From the original BU storyline, this drama acts like a prequel that introduces the 7 protagonists while adding more details about their backgrounds and families. Eventually, this drama left with an open ending where the fantasy aspect of time travel only begins at the end. Hwan, the oldest of the group, carries the weight of responsibilities and guilt, so he goes back in time to save all his friends and prevent them from their tragic fates. He sacrifices himself while being stuck in time loops. This leads to suspicions and demands for Season 2. There's no official confirmation yet, but I hope they really make it happen so the boys' stories can continue.

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BOY ISSUES JUST GOT BIG

TO ALL THE BOYS

Boys don't cry, boys aren't emotional, boys are supposed to be strong, But what's the most beautiful moment of my life?

This show is a lot for an average person to take in, when dealing with abusive parents, poverty, family pressures, PTSD, suicide, promises, and everything that is part of a teenager's life. Seven beautiful boys from Seven different families living in Seven different worlds come together and are obviously trying to navigate the complexities of teenage hood, growing up, I'll be honest until now I'd never thought that Boy issues could get as big as Girls make theirs seem or even worse.

This is one hell of a bumpy and perfectly toxic friendship if you could sum it up and there'll most probably never be another show that beats this drama at that. A detailed account of the pain most people go through but you do not notice, the lies most people tell themselves to feel better and people who feel they get more than they deserve and those who get less instead, I had never imagined there could be a show that sheds more light on the meaning of youth and the pain of survival, the true meaning of perseverance.

The bromance is swoon worthy, every bit of it tastes no different from hot chocolate on a cold night. We've seen kids dealing with serious issues in EXTRACURRICULAR, WEAK HERO CLASS, THAT MOMENT AT EIGHTEEN, SCHOOL 2013 and AT A DISTANCE SPRING IS GREEN but perhaps none of those shows could hit deeper and more real than BEGINS YOUTH has

This is a show for the heavy hearted especially because it deals with primarily broken characters that are trying to heal. All relationships come pretty intense and vibrant and yet the characters seem very fragile but persistent when enduring everything. Besides, It is commendable enough that most of this series speaks to people who have gone through some of the worst extremes in life than one could imagine.

No show made me smile and cry just as much eventually especially when dealing with overbearing parents, rigid societies and corrupted institutions because you would be surprised that high school life could become a physical and psychological living hell where we are all trying to survive. No show made me understand the meaning of living life and the need of not wanting to give up on it.

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what a roller-coaster...

I'm neither a BTS fan nor have I any idea of the original storyline... But man that was intense. I can't collect all my toughts because I'm overwhelmed.
The only thing I can say is, this drama stands out. It is not entertainment in the least. It raises too many questions, shows us how shitty the world is we live in, depresses us and if you are sensitive, it overwhelms you.
All the actors did convey the story in an outstanding way and with this material it could not have been easy. Production quality was top notch.
I don't think I need to say more. This was outstanding in so many ways.

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It's a good story, and it kept me entertained but...

... if you expect it to be like the BU, you'll be disappointed. I was very disappointed, I love the BU, and I've read and watched everything that is available, so I've been very excited about this series for years now... unfortunately, the series do not follow the original story. They take things from here and there, but they change a lot of things and skip/add things. Some things they add felt unnecessary.

I was very disappointed by Kim Jooan's (Taehyung) and his father's relationship, and the relationship they had.
But I was very satisfied with both Park Haru (Jimin) and Jeon Jeha's (Jungkook's) families and those story lines. I was on the other hand disappointed by the reason Cein was expelled, in the original BU, he ended up in trouble to protect Jeha (Jungkook), but they went a different route in this series.

I also felt like it was rushed, and the way the boys bonded felt equally as rushed, as if they bonded just because they had to for the sake of the plot. I never got that impression from the BU. The only ones I felt had somewhat of a chance to bond were Dogeon and Jooan (Namjoon & Taehyung), and Hwan and Cein (Jin & Yoongi). I loved those scenes with Dogeon and Jooan in Episode 1 and the scene with Hwan and Cein in Episode 2.

Episode 1 and 2 were both great episodes, because they focused a lot on the boys friendship, and I feel like we needed more of that before we introduced all the boys' struggles. Right now I feel like they more often faught than actually had fun together.

About Haru and Hosu (Jimin and Hoseok), the way they went with convincing the audience they are great friends was "all tell not show". They kept telling the audience what great friends they are instead of really showing us, because most of the time Haru tried to avoid Hosu.

So was the series bad? No, not at all, I did enjoy it if I tried to not compare it with the BU. But was it great? No, it wasn't great either. We need more happy scenes with them actually having fun together... we espeically need Hwan (Jin) to have more fun with the boys. I know they tried to convince the audience that Hwan cared about the others but I ended up wondering why he cared so much.
And the way they include the timeloop's twist so late, it made things yet again feel so rushed.

And there wasn't a satisfying ending, so we'll have to keep our fingers crossed for a season 2.

I would recommend it, it's worth watching, the actors really helped making the experience better, they are great! But nothing I would rewatch myself.

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Mixed Feels and 2 Many Questions – Should You Wait for Season 2 to Start Season 1?

I am unfamiliar with the BTS universe, so this is my unbiased review.

Firstly, regarding the storyline:
The story is compelling; it revolves around the friendship and struggles of seven teenage boys. However, the writers have chosen to subject the characters to a wide array of struggles imaginable. . This trend continues for the other characters as well. It feels excessive and like they've pushed the boundaries of trauma depiction. They could have balanced this with more moments of joy cause the way the story progressed it seems that whenever they gather and enjoy themselves, something unfortunate occurs in the next scene.

Secondly, concerning the characters:
All the characters are well-developed with unique personalities, and I genuinely appreciate each one of them. However, some characters weren't explored adequately; instead, the focus seemed skewed towards others. Surprisingly, the main character, Hwan, had limited screen time. I felt characters like Dogeon, Jooan, Hwan, and Hosu were underexplored.

Dogeon's screen time primarily revolves around his financial struggles and conflicts with his mother, with limited interaction with other characters. I wished for more depth in Dogeon's portrayal.

Jooan's decision to live with his father rather than his mother could have been explored further to understand his mindset, particularly his attachment despite the abuse—a sort of trauma bonding aspect.

Initially, Hosu played a prominent role, especially with his abandonment issues, but his character development abruptly halted.

I understand others may disagree, but I believe too much screen time was devoted to Haru without significant progress in his condition. His scenes felt repetitive, and similarly, Jeha's storyline—competing for his father's affection vis-à-vis his stepbrother and his troubling fixation on Cein—became tiresome to watch.

Cein's scenes mostly involve brooding in the burnt house or unsettling interactions with the principal and his father, which, while intriguing, felt somewhat disconnected.

I'm not suggesting that their screen time should have been redistributed, but rather that some of the series' mysteries could have been addressed or at least acknowledged. I've heard there may be another season, but without addressing these mysteries, it's hard to maintain audience interest, even if it's setting up for something significant.

In terms of execution, there are flaws, but I appreciate the non-linear storytelling approach and the episodes starting with each character's involvement in the fire. It added an intriguing layer of mystery to the series. Literally none of the mysteries were solved except Haru's.

Overall, despite my mixed feelings about the series, it has its strengths and weaknesses. I hope a second season will provide answers to lingering questions and do justice to this promising storyline.

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Quite a bit different from HYYH, but entertaining for the most part

These opinions are all my own and, as always, super glad others seemed to really love this take on HYYH. I personally didn’t, but not everything is going to be my cup of tea. Namjoon's story was my favorite in HYYH.

To start, Dogeon is an entirely different character from HYYH’s Namjoon. Dogeon's vibe was a lot more clean cut and he was was more of a rule follower than HYYH Namjoon. The iconic scenes from the Notes/MVs where he and Tae run away from the cops after getting caught spray painting seems like something Dogeon would never do. Most of the big events from his story don’t happen in this drama and he’s not given a ton of story on his own.

In order of who got the most story:
Haru, Jeha, Cein, Jooan, Hwan, Hosu, Dogeon comes in last.

Most of Dogeon and Hosu’s stories involve supporting other characters, but Hosu at least got the story with his narcolepsy and his mother abandoning him.

Namjoon’s closest relationship (and the most interesting one to me) was his relationship with Tae in the OG story. There’s more of a supportive relationship set up here with Jooan and Haru instead. Dogeon and Jooan’s story was colored negatively by the only scene in which Dogeon lets out his emotions and talks about hating that no one comforts him… is followed by him apologizing for “unloading” and Jooan abandoning him. End result: he still has no support system. That was perhaps the most heartbreaking aspect of his entire story. Dogeon is a character that exists to serve literally everyone else.

Every time it seemed we were finally giving him focus, it cut away to another character’s story without giving depth to his. His time in the hospital, the start of episode 12 before it cut to Jooan, and we don’t even get his personal thoughts in the aftermath of nearly being killed?? What was the nosebleed storyline? It was just dropped completely. Did the delivery boy story from the Notes happen here? Who knows?

The writers didn’t seem to be interested in Dogeon which made this drama less enjoyable overall for me, but I’m glad fans of other characters enjoyed it.

My general thoughts on everything else: it's entertaining for the most part. The episodes are long and you can feel it. I did enjoy the group scenes where they're all together, Cein's birthday party was my favorite group scene. Some of the acting in a few scenes was a bit cringy and choppy, but I don’t think that was the actors’ faults. I think the director should’ve made some different choices.

The best performances in my opinion were Hwan and Jooan’s. I thought those actors did a great job in their portrayals. Surprisingly, the relationships I found the most interesting (for however much we got to see of them) were Hwan & Dogeon and Hosu & Dogeon. I don’t remember any real interactions between Hosu and Dogeon (Hobi and Namjoon) in the OG story, so that was a pleasant surprise. Hwan and Dogeon were great together and I wished we got a lot more of that.

For Dogeon’s sake, I hope there’s another season because I really think he got the short end of the stick story wise. It seems like they were clearly setting up for another season and I read they supposedly filmed 24 episodes. It’d be nice if they could give Dogeon more, but I’ll always have the OG story that I enjoyed.

I’m glad others enjoyed this a lot more than I did.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Begins Youth '' is a drama based on the BTS Universe storyline and the '' Save Me '' webtoon.

The drama follows the original story closely, with some variations that don't offset the main plot. It can also be watched by someone who has no clue when it comes to the BTS storyline, so that is another plus for the drama.

On the other hand, the drama tries to combine too many storylines in such a short running time, and therefore, some characters are pushed aside and are not as developed as the rest of their friends. Also, the fantasy element was introduced in the very ending, which would make sense if they added another season, but if they don't, then the ending is left open with many questions left unanswered.

The performances, on the contrary, were pretty great by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, six out of ten.

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The cast the script the actors acting on point everything is so good and so perfect I wish they could've telecasted it on viu or viki am damn sure the rating would've touched milestones. All of them were so sooo Good.
Even though it wasn't released on a good platform still ARMY's did their job of promoting it on every platform. And what else does one need we were satisfied with their acting the story the directions and production.
Am gonna miss this drama.
It also made me miss the boys more as all of them are serving in military now
Loved it a lot.
APOBANGPO💜

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"Survival is both an exalted privilege and a painful burden."

Begins Youth is a drama inspired by BU (BTS universe), a fictional storyline that spans through one webtoon and several music videos, short films and books created by BTS. To watch it you don’t have to be familiar with BU, though. The drama version can stand on its own.

STORY – 9.5/10

It’s a compelling story of 7 boys who live miserable lives, but find comfort in each other after becoming friends. It’s a story full of pain, pain and more pain. Saying their lives are hard would be an understatement. They all suffer either because of their abusive/controlling/uncaring families, harsh living conditions or past traumas and mental health issues caused by those traumas. They’re victims of adults who control their lives and their struggle to survive in that bleak environment is painful to watch. When they get together, however, they can forget about their worries and act like teenagers that they are. Those moments of beautiful friendship in between constant suffering and pain are what makes watching this drama worth it. The conflicts they get into with each other are also gripping because nothing about the bond they share is ever bland. If you’re a sucker for angst, found family tropes and plots centered on strong friendships without unnecessary romantic interferences, there’s a good chance that you’ll love this. One of the important aspects of this story is also time travelling. It doesn’t happen in the beginning, but certain elements of the story, and the last two episodes in particular, cannot be understood without the knowledge of it. The ending leaves space for another season, but we don’t know if there are any official plans for it.

ACTING – 10/10

Aside from Seo Ji Hoon, whom I watched in several other dramas, I wouldn’t say any of these actors are famous. They certainly are underrated though, because they can ACT! This story is challenging and playing characters who have so many issues and who carry so much emotional baggage can’t be easy. Despite that, all 7 of them shine. They did justice to every emotion and their portrayal of emotional breakdowns was painfully realistic. It felt like watching veteran actors in action! Their comedic timing and delivery were also impeccable.
ALSO, there is another aspect of their acting that makes people like me, who are ARMYs, so enthusiastic about the drama. Their portrayal of BTS members’ mannerisms were flawless. It’s actually quite creepy (in a good way) how much Haru, Cein and Hosu (in particular) remind me of Jimin, Yoongi and Hoseok. They really did their homework!

MUSIC – 10/10

Most of the music used in this drama is by BTS. Two other OST songs are also good. “Take it all” by JEMMA is beautifully haunting and it’s probably one of the most beautiful OSTs I’ve ever listened to.

REWATCH VALUE – 10/10
Considering the source material (BU) famous for its fan theories, this drama blends in perfectly. I see myself watching it multiple times in an effort to find more clues about the time travelling. Also, I can never get tired of the bond these 7 share.

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over the edge

my final judgment on this ： it was a failure
yes it was a gripping drama to watch but 、went completely off the rails with episode 11 totally over romanticised shading into melodrama and episode 12 just bad melodrama with I assume the triumph of evil embodied in Kim Changjun and the principal and of social advantage ー
but then there are the unresolved questions starting with the end of episode 11 and Kim Hwan on the edge.......of what? a watery grave. ? bizarrely we do not find out specifically in episode 12 where the one actually taking the plunge is Jeon though the very end maybe can be viewed as implying he joins the other ghosts （but no not all of them actually died or at least bodily）
I am still not clear if Cein's mother was responsible for her own fate or raped and murdered by Kim Changjun though given his later easy turn to murder to attain his ends and hints from the principal' s contributions in the drama including the flashback to the young Changjun I tend to the latter view but the writer really leaves it hopelessly muddled
you can take this as an invitation for your imagination to fill in the gaps or a failure of the writer to properly resolve the drama： I am quite willing to let my imagination run but if so it will not be because the writer [webtoon or screenwriter] encouraged me to do so in a positive way but because I have to make up for their inadequacy

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A beautiful drama that both entertained and disappointed me

I have NEVER anticipated a drama more than this one. I still remember back in 2019 being in my first year of high school seeing the first Soompi article about the production of this show and freaking out. In the nearly five years that have passed since then, I have pined for this drama in an unhealthy manner, I've had DREAMS about the show, and woken up believing a release date was finally published. Even being a BTS fan, I was more obsessed with the HYYH universe during the later part of my teens than I was with the actual members. I bought every chapter of the Webtoon so I could reread it whenever I wanted, I own both of the "The Notes" novels, and I read and watched every single thing about the BU. However, if you were like me, who knew about this show since it was announced pre-production, the countless postponements eventually made me grow numb. Now I'm in my twenties, in a completely different stage of my life, and barely a K-pop listener anymore. Still, I had so many expectations for this show. After 5 years, surely it must've been polished to perfection? Well, let me say, although I liked this show, it was not.

The first big mistake was the release method. The whole weird crypto NFT-based streaming definitely ruined much of this show's potential for growth. I know it costs a lot of money to make a show, and I agree that today's streaming services aren't always the best, but expecting people to pay $90 at the cheapest for RENTAL is insane. Wouldn't the show make more money being released on a conventional streaming platform and proper K-drama promotion? I can't help but feel so bad for the cast and crew who worked hard on this, just for the show to barely get any recognition beyond BTS fans who already knew of the drama. Most of us are going to resort to 🏴‍☠️, which I am usually adamantly against.

On to the story. Seeing the moments from the BTS music videos and all the chapters in the novels come to life on screen was beautiful. Did they change a lot from the MVs, novels, and the Webtoon respectively? Yes. The core was still there, of course. But many important plot points, especially from the novels, were completely watered down if not scrapped completely. My biggest peeve with the storytelling was that they introduced WAY too many problems and storylines, where barely any of them got resolved or even acknowledged after a couple of episodes. 7 main characters are many, of course, but not seeing any of their stories truly end is SO unsatisfying to watch. It would be different if they all got sad endings, but it just seemed like none of them had any endings at all. Cein vs the principal, Hwan vs his father, any of the boys vs their problems, literally nothing got solved. Which, spoiler, is not what happened in the books. Part of the fault lies in the screenwriting, some in the editing. I truly believe this show needed 16 episodes. The first 10 episodes were too long, diving too much into vague backstories and new conflicts, and the final two were too short, barely explaining any of them. I love the story, obviously, even to a somewhat unhealthy degree. But the execution was very messy.

All of this is somewhat saved by the acting. Holy moly, those boys can act. I laughed, I teared up, and I shrieked at what these actors could portray. The casting directors did an AMAZING job. I was also so surprised at how much some of them look like their BTS counterparts (Jeha, Haru, and Cein in particular). Their acting was so true to the HYYH characters it was insane. And a special kudos to Jung Woo-jin (Kim Jooan) and Jeon Jin-seo (Jeon Jeha), the two of them made me FEEL things. The friendships between the boys also seemed so genuine, especially Hwan and Dogeon. The extreme admiration Jeha had for Cein also felt so real, that it hurt me lol.

On a shorter note, the music in this show was not remarkable. I was surprised by how few BTS songs were used, and each time, I felt like it was in the wrong moments (except Euphoria, that song is HYYH to its core). The OSTs were all right, but I wasn't impressed.

Back on a more story-related note, I did not like the ending (which I must've already talked about, but this is more a rant than a review at this point). I was not expecting a happy one, as the Webtoon also had an open ending. The novels, however, did have a happy-ish ending, that at least explained what the hell was going on. This show somehow had neither. It felt as if they gave up on how to finish the story. This is so frustrating to me, because the BU is more or less over, now that BTS has moved onto chapter two of their careers (and are too old now to continuously portray teenagers lmao). But for this show to vaguely imply that Hwan is in a time loop, not explain why he was manipulating the boys into setting the piano studio on fire, not explain what happened between Hwan's father, Cein's mother, and the principal, not explain ANYTHING is such an unsatisfying way to end what is supposed to be the BUs biggest (and probably final) project.

Still, despite everything, the HYYH universe has such a big part of my heart, that I could never possibly dislike anything related to it. The story WAS good, it was the execution that was lacking. That's also why my rating is an 8.5, because no matter what, this show satisfied the teenager who waited five years for this show. Sadly, it did not 100% satisfy the adult I am now, LMAO, but I truly did enjoy it. If not anything, it made me listen to BTS again, feeding my nostalgia. Not to mention, the show truly was beautiful. The cinematography met my expectations, and the acting was amazing. I do recommend it, but if you're a diehard HYYH fan, you might have many of the same critiques I did.

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