About Youth (2022)

This Has Turned Out to Be a Great Watch

This is at least a few notches above the average BL plot, and it has all been enjoyable to watch.

After all 8 episodes, the story has more than enough depth and I feel for every one of these characters, so I have to make a note of the great acting skills in this series.

I'd be a lot happier with the usual 12 x 50 setup to let this story expand to delve further into the characters and emotions.
But with the time they had to work with, I still had to give it a 10.

For me, this series has already won a few awards, including Best Performance by a Drunken Uncle, and Best Character Transformation by Taking Off the Glasses.
And, Best Performance by Egg Drop Soup as a Side Character. . .

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Could Have Been Okay, But the Overwhelming Toxicity Turned Me Off

What I'm going to say may turn off a lot of people, but I'm tired of sweeping it under the BL "well, that's just the way Asian cultures are" rug.

Abuse know no special language. I know, I went through something similar for nine years of my life, and though I survived and got past it (some don't), it marked me for life. Frankly, I don't care what language you speak, to mentally, emotionally, and even physically abuse your only son for years in the name of "loving" him is just sick, and I don't care who is doing it. And any culture that normalizes it is, to mind mind, equally culpable for that sickness.

Further, I'm tired of seeing it normalized as a trope in far too many BLs. Like this one, which ended in such a way that it was never made clear that these "loving" parents had even the remotest clue of the damage they were wreaking on their only child.

As I say, it could have been an okay, cute, run of the mill BL, but the sociopathic parenting on full, horrible display throughout ruined it for me. Sorry.

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SO GOOD

This is definitely one the best series from this year. The OST is, without a doubt, the best from all the asian BL drama series I've watched in 2022. The story is so cute and the boys were the cutest and acted well too. I don't know, just the way they both were so sad in problematic families and just found happiness in each other and in music... I just LOVE gays and music together. I really love and miss shows where the couple doesn't need to be fighting or being toxic with each other to have drama, so this was key to make me love it. The boys were just running from unhappiness together and that is beautiful. I like the second couple too, they are so sweet. The only thing I didn't like was that the kisses were not very great to watch, but I'm willing to ignore it.

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Decent

It's been a while since Taiwan BLs disappointed me. It's just something about these dramas that even when it's not usually to your taste, you're still going to enjoy it. and while this wasn't really much of anything special, I still was entirely wrapped around these characters' lives. About Youth is a simple high school love story full of these conventional tropes and cliches, mixed with some really adorable characters that took my heart by storm.

Let's Dive In,

For the most part, I enjoyed the story. I feel like they left a few plot holes that would've been nice to see filled, but for the most part, it was a fine story. I liked how they didn't rush the main couple's relationship, seeing as they were only in high school.

Speaking of the main couple, I enjoyed watching their dynamics and characterization throughout the episode. Ye Guang had the best development of everybody. Finding someone that defines everything you had been missing in your life is a whole different type of relief. I could even feel it when he sent that video to his parents. Their chemistry was really good. I enjoyed more than ever their build-up and when it finally got to its execution it played out perfectly.

The side couple was nice as well. I either wasn't paying attention or they didn't explain very well why Ray was dressed as a woman to see his ex-boyfriend. At first, I was thinking he was going through a transition, but that wasn't it. I don't know if he was hiding his real identity as a female, or if his ex-boyfriend made him dress like that. I have zero ideas. Anyways though, they were cute. Ray's height gets to me, and the hair, AND the dangling earrings. Geez.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10: Enjoyable. Kind of simplistic and nothing too too interesting, but what we got was still good., The romances were nice and I enjoyed watching Ye Guang's character development.

Acting: 8.5/10: decent for actors that I haven't seen before. I think Ye Guang' acting was iffy. good sometimes and not as good the next. everyone else was decent.

Music: 8.5/10: Different than I usually feel, but the main lead had a beautiful voice. I didn't pass when he sang, which is VERY new for me.

Rewatch value: 3/10: Like usual, I rarely rewatch, but this seemed like it would be something I could potentially go back to see certain parts of.

There's not much else I feel that I need to say, The series was really cute and kept me entertained for the most part. It didn't stand out as this overwhelming amazing drama, but it did its job and I'm left satisfied.

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Adorable And Comforting Despite Toxic Parenting.

General Spoilers below.
This slice-of-life series is adorable and the relationship between the two lead highschool boys is so healthy and sweet. Mutual support and care, interest, attraction, and communication. Their one-sided crush to friendship & mutual crush to boyfriends was so lovely and realistically portrayed. The two leads were only 19-20 yrs old yet are already great actors. They were natural, nuanced, charismatic, and held emotions in their eyes. I'm really impressed by them and would easily watch them in whatever they do next. The secondary couple was initially interesting but their story wasn't given much depth.

Trigger warning for emotionally abusive parents.
There is one parent that's a great example and another set of parents that are completely emotionally abusive (insane pressure for school performance, overly controlling and oppressive, guilt-tripping and shaming, and threatening). The toxic parents are written and acted one-dimensionally and their abrupt almost 180 degree turn around in the last episode was sooo unrealistic, but did allow the series to end on a lighter, more hopeful note.

There was too much plot introduced for the time constraints of eight 22min episodes and a lot of threads aren't followed up on.

Despite the weaknesses, this series was very enjoyable and left me with a smile and a warm, fuzzy feeling.

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The Kids Are Alright

Aw hell, I just really liked this one.
It wasn't the best show I've ever seen by any means, but it was such a sweet and earnest story about a bunch of kids trying their best and figuring themselves out I just couldn't help but be drawn in by it.

The characters are all very easy to love and I appreciate just how much they feel like real teenagers. They're all at different stages in their lives and that's okay. Some of them know exactly what they want from their future and some of them have no idea what they want to do with their life at all. Some of them are romantically and sexually experienced and some of them haven't so much as kissed anyone yet. You know, like real kids.
In general the show does a great job of portraying the beautifully varied lives of young queer people and makes it very clear that they're all perfectly alright just as they are and that there's nothing wrong with living life at your own pace, which is an important message for anyone to hear, kids as well as adults.

While the story is largely lighthearted, it also tackles more serious topics like parental neglect and abuse, and does so with great care and sensitivity. It emphasises the importance of communicating your wants and needs to the people in your life as well as the importance of standing up for yourself even if that means going against the expectations and demands of others.
The only thing that, to me, felt out of place is Qi Zhang's uncle. His sudden appearance was as jarring as it was entirely unnecessary. You're telling me that Mama Xu would really have let that man come anywhere near her kid? There's just no way.
But that's pretty much my only complaint.

So if you're looking for a very sweet slice-of-life story with solid writing and good music, which treats its characters with care and respect while broaching some mature topics, then I'd definitely recommend giving this one a shot.

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can't get enough of 8 episodes, i need more

It's been a while since I finished a show in just one sitting, and let me tell you, not only is this one short (23 minutes each episode), but its pacing is remarkably fast. This is the kind of soft and fluffy romance that will have you kicking your feet in the air and saying "awww."

The show features two couples, and believe me, you'll fall in love with both of them. Overall, both lead couples are fantastic and contribute equally to the story as a whole. The music (OSTs) is too good not to listen to on repeat. Every cast member has given their best performance, and I wholeheartedly recommend it! 100% worth it

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back to my childhood

I LOVE IT !! Beautiful good job everyone who this realization seriously I am currently in university and watching this brings me back to high school where I was a carefree student while my best friend was the one that the parents were always expecting to be at the top of the rank is 2 or 3 his dead, he was frustrated but was wearing that face mask of smile and happy person around people except me. He didn't even have the right to have a girlfriend, if it is school activities be the best player otherwise it was like wasting "his precious time" but everything has a change in grade 12 he choose to do what he wants and be a normal teenager and his decision was the best he got accepted by his parents and he got their support, love. stop with the sad story good moral of this series learn how to decide for yourself even if your parents think that they are always right you can make them understand in your way if they don't understand you. we know parents want the best for their children but a child should learn about the difficulty of life the upside-down fall and restart walking again. The music choice here is incredible I can't get it out of my mind, except for the serious parents we got some funny, cute, and adorable moments. well done !! ❤️

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Just hits different

Maybe I'm a bit biased cause I absolutely love Taiwanese series, but it's just so good omg.

Where it misses in the story it adds up in the story telling and the acting.
Ye Guangs charecter is genius, the whole high-expectations child was done so well and Li Chen Hao portrayed it beautifuly.
Don't even get me started on Ray.

Ngl I thought the brother of the sister that preformed infront of Guang was gonna be Rays love instrest, but I don't mind that it was A'Jian cause
THE*CHEMISTRY*BETWEEN*THE*COUPLES*OMGGG

I also love how it was so easy to watch and smooth like you feel like you just started the episode and it's already the end that's how well done the story was.

THE OST!!! ITS SO GOOD, HIS VOICE OMGG

The only thing I gotta complain about was that it was JUST TO SHORT AND IT WENT BY SO FAST.

But overall 10/10, one of my top series.

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So Cute!

I discovered this series scrolling through Gagaoolala and omg I'm so glad I did! It was so wholesome and cute with real life situations and scenarios. The music was catchy and there were visuals for miles! I loved all the couples in different ways and they all portrayed something that we can all relate too ranging from unrequited love to family issues. The ending was so sweet and fluffy! It's a short series but please give it a chance, it's so worth it. There was no over the top drama and basic BL bs. It's always nice to come across something fresh and new!
Enjoy...

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