Youth of May (2021)

A beautifully crafted drama capturing the reality of the Gwangju Uprising.

Youth Of May is a melodrama set in May 1980 during the Gwangju Uprising. Its about Myung Hee and Hee Tae navigating through the trials of this hectic period of time.

First of all, the acting is amazing. Literally a 11/10. Go Min Si and Lee Do Hyun played Myung Hee and Hee Tae in an amazing way. I like how they literally brought the characters into life and brought a memorable performance. They had great chemistry and their acting just felt so realistic.
Everybody portrayed their characters well.The writing and the whole story was good and overall I loved watching the show entirely. The OSTs were giving off the sad vibe which I enjoyed listening to and also I also came to know about how harsh 1980 May was in Gwangju and how much the people were actually suffering for no reason.

I definitely recommend this drama to anybody who loves watching realistic dramas with no fiction. If you enjoy politics too, then this drama is for you. It's totally worth the watch and is one of the best dramas that I've seen.

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Value to watch on this Lockdown.

I started to watch this after I saw the spoiler in tiktok. So i guess i might have a try and watch it.

I guess i'm the only one who have problem with this drama 😅 when most of the viewer cry at the end of the episode but I'm more curious about what happen with the 2nd lead female and her brother? The 1st female lead mother and grandma after the uprising? And why didnt the director show a bit about them at the end of the episode. Well there is a bit sneak peak scene but that didnt help my curiosity😅 Well, I did enjoyed watch it but thanks to the fast forward button.

And Pd-nim, I know its a period drama but the soundtrack..🤏 boring. 🙂

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A good drama, could have been better.

I have Really mixed feelings about this drama.
On one hand, the drama was good, I really liked it but on the other hand, there were some ick-y things here and there. There was so much potential but the writer just didn't go down that route.....
The drama is kind of boring and draggy, cause I guess, it's slow paced, but I really liked how they showed how the lives were affected by the Gwanju uprising, how innocent people lost their lives to achieve the democracy South Korea has today, how scary death is, and how terrifying and traumatising the uprising would have been and how brave and courageous these fighters were to not give up even after being faced by these horrendous things and it's so inspiring to know that they did win in the end, after years of struggle. These all things make you really grateful and feel the responsibility of the privileges we normally take for granted.

The chemistry between the leads was amazing, I could really feel their love and it was heart wrenching to know how the female lead won't survive. This made their happy scenes 10x sadder for me and I'm not complaining, I like to know beforehand if it will be a sad ending.
The things I feel ick-y were like when both the leads were so devastated and that was how it was portrayed to us to, like it's the end of the world and they can never meet again and all that.... but.... the next episode, the second female lead so easily tells the male lead to go to the female lead and it was like, the viewers were made all that sad for....... nothing. Weird.

Then the climax, I feel like was really really rushed. Also, I really feel like the drama didn't do Myeong-Hee's character justice at all. She just died..... so easily. There was no drama, nothing. Like Are you kidding me? It's the fricking female lead!
They should have made it distressing, disturbing, upsetting, heart rendering, tragic, the kind where you sob and sob and can't stop sobbing. They should have made Hee-Tae be with her in final moments, with both of them crying and us viewers, bawling the heck out of our hearts. It was honestly really disappointing, how the drama failed to make me cry, I remained completely dry eyed, and especially cause I picked this drama for a good cry, but alas the drama completely failed at that.
But I guess, this was what made it sadder and more tragic too, the fact that he suffered so long trying to find her or at least her body and had no idea where she is or what happened to her. The fact that this may have happened to lovers or people in general, that so many of them must have lost their loved ones this way. Not knowing what happened to them or where they are is actually the saddest thing.
Then, we also didn't get to know about or what happened to Soo-Chan or Soo-Ryeon or Hwang Ki-Nam or the protesters or how did the uprising ended, etc. In short, the ending just felt Really rushed, incomplete and dissatisfying. I feel like they had to leave out parts to adjust it all in 12 episodes.

The cinematography was good, I really liked the whole old school, nostalgic vibe with a tinge of sadness all the time.
The OSTs were fine, okay-ish. They complemented the drama really well, with the same old school nostalgic sweet and sad vibe, but the problem is majority of them were really forgettable and mediocre, at least for me. "I regret" and "Winter of May" really stood out to me though, you could feel the pain through the lyrics.

This drama teaches you a lot of things about life, hardships, freedom, democracy, dictatorship and especially, how precious freedom is. This drama will stay with me for a long time cause of the stories it portrayed and the lessons it taught.
Over all, the drama was good, could have been better though.

P. S. Y'all listen to Bigger Than The Whole Sky by Taylor Swift! The lyrics fit the leads perfectly, it's like Taylor really, actually wrote it from Hee-Tae's perspective for Myeong-Hee!!

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I cried a bucket!

I initially though this was just a typical romance drama. But after watching the first episode. I realised it was about a real event that happened in Korea. Episode 1 was a little boring as I was still trying to grasp the story. I am so glad I decided to continue watching. The pace picked up and storyline got better with every episode.
I’m also glad that there were no unnecessary scene and it was well pace with 12 episode.

The last episode made me cry a bucket. I totally love how they slowly built up the emotion and the next thing I knew, I was crying a bucket. 😭😭😭

This show also has the power to make you feel like you are part of the drama and that you could feel how the characters are feeling. Super amazing!

DEFINITELY WORTH A WATCH!!! I will definitely want to rewatch !

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Both heartwarming and heart-wrenching

This drama really feels split into two sections; the first two thirds that deal with a blossoming love between the two leads and the final third that is primarily focused on the Gwangju Uprising and its impact on the characters. This jarring difference works to the show's benefit in my opinion, since it highlights how terrible the uprising was by juxtaposing it against everyday life and love.

This was my first time watching either of the two leads and they both really impressed me. Lee Do Hyun was so likeable as Hwang Hee Tae. He also did a wonderful job at portraying a character who is pretending he is okay in order to reassure others around him. His work here made me super excited to watch him in other dramas. Go Min Si was equally as impressive, taking a character in Kim Myung Hee that could have been a stereotype (the poor, nice, hardworking female lead) and gave her nuance in a quiet yet powerful performance. Their chemistry was wonderful and this has to be one of the purest and "protect and them at all costs" couples I've seen recently.

The supporting cast all did a really great job with their characters and kudos to the writers for giving all these characters quite a bit of development over the 12 episodes. Props to the actor playing Hwang Hee Tae's dad because I hated that character so much. The child actors were stand outs too, playing characters far too young to be dealing with the horrors they did.

The overall setting and atmosphere was perfect. Nostalgic and simple. The use of music from the time period was absolutely perfect in some cases and added a lot of emotion to the scenes. The Rose and Annie's Song stand out in this regard.

Watching the episodes that dealt with the Gwangju Uprising was particularly difficult; just imagining that this really happened in the not so distant past and that people have to live with those memories to this day is absolutely horrible. KBS didn't shy away from showing the horrors and really pushed that 15 rating as far as I've seen in terms of violence and disturbing imagery.

My only problem with this drama was the end. Not necessarily what the end was but how the writers got to said end point. It felt like the writers knew what the ending had to be and had the characters make dumb decisions to get them there. The "let's split up" scene felt like writers forcing characters apart instead of a decision that two intelligent characters would have made. I was still moved and emotional at the end of the drama but there was a nagging feeling in my brain that it didn't have to be this way; if the writer's had a better path to get to the end point this could have been avoided.

The first two thirds are very rewatchable, however the final third not so much since it was hard to watch even for a first time.
All in all this beautiful drama is one I won't soon forget. The way it combined a heartfelt love story with terrible real life events was pretty close to perfection for me.

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Another gem...

I was thinking a lot whether to watch it or not, I don’t know why. I tend to avoid really famous dramas most of the time, but I was searching for something that would touch my heart, because I wasn’t enjoying dramas lately. So I needed one which will convince me that it’s worth to spend my time with watching all those shows. Well, it was definitely worth. It’s been so long, since I last loved a drama like I love this one.

At first I thought they could have a happy ending, but as we came closer to the end it was clear to me that we have to lose someone for the story to remain realistic. I personally really like dramas which do not force the happy endings. They broke my heart in the end, but this is what I really liked about it. Just like in real life, it’s not like we always have happy endings, so I like to see the sad but more realistic endings. And in this situation it was barely impossible to wrap things up happily. The plot was building up slowly, but it wasn’t too slow or too fast. I think it was just perfect how the story bloomed and reached its peak. I enjoyed each and every moment of it. We could see their happy moments and the way their relationship was formed which wasn’t far-fetched as I already mentioned. It was heartwarming to see people who could sacrifice themselves for each other, as well to see some of the characters grow and understand things that might be unusual to them. We learn as we go, and we could see that here too.

It was reassuring to watch the main leads slowly falling in love with each other, and choosing each other above everything else. It was just natural and lovely and their hardships were also perceptible. The actors and actresses did really well, and I was satisfied with everyone. I was able to empathize with the story thanks to their acting that imparted everything well. I was able to understand and enjoy each and every moment of it, even the saddest ones.

What added a plus flavor and made it more interesting for me was that it’s based on true historical events. It’s fun to learn like this and it’s not something we all know unless we are Korean or really interested in Korean history. So I’m thankful that I could learn new things thanks to Youth of May.

All in all I can only recommend this drama for everyone who wants to see a lovely old school romance and have some beautifully sad heartbreaking moment. It was definitely worth watching and an amazing start of the New Year.

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What would you do for your loved ones?

I really didn't expect to love YOM as much as I did, I stumbled upon it while waiting for another drama to air, and seeing how it was a 12-ep drama made me severely underestimate how powerful this drama was. However, my expectations were shattered upon watching the first ep.

Story/Casting: I've never seen Lee Do Hyun in any other drama, and Go Min-Si I saw in a supporting role in the Smile Has Left Your Eyes, which didn't give me much exposure to her acting capabilities. In YOM, these two make every emotion feel authentic. Their subtle expressions of happiness or heart-wrenching sobs of pain were enough to make chills resonate throughout your entire body. The problems they had to face during the 1980 Gwangju Uprising made me realize how significant the event was- the scriptwriters couldn't include every detail for the drama's sake. Nevertheless, I also really enjoyed how every character had an important role to the development of the story, and no one felt left out and disconnected from the plot. Seeing Myung Hee and her father highlighted the issues of misunderstanding within a family, and how it could threaten to tear one apart. A parallel relationship was Hwang Hee Tae and his father- the father made for a very ominous and unstoppable villain. It was almost comical how evil he was portrayed, as it isn't fully revealed what his motives and intentions were. On the flipside, YOM also emphasized on the more positive aspects of what you'd consider a family, regardless of blood-relationship or not. In terms of the Gwangju uprising itself, the drama is heavily centered around the protests and those involved in it- obviously I'm not a native, so I can't speak will full reassurance on the events that took place, but as a viewer, YOM made it seem very real and impactful.

OSTs: Quite literally some of the saddest (but amazing) OSTs I've ever heard in a drama. Notable ones: Winter of May, Words I want to Say To You, I Regret, and Days In Memory.

Overall, this was one of the most heart-wrenching and emotional dramas I've ever seen. I've seen some people quip about the ending, but personally, I felt like it was rightfully balanced and didn't pull any fast tropes on us either. It felt like a very natural ending with lot of drama and tension building up right before then. In 12 strong episodes, YOM pulls through with a powerful narrative with a compelling cast to make it stand out from the dramas released in 2021.

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My love for this drama runs deep.

I loved this drama. You know those scenes in a drama that make you feel like you're intruding on a private moment? That's how I felt watching this. I haven't rooted for any other couple in dramaland more than the leads in Youth of May. Lee Do Hyun is phenomenal, and paired with Go Min Si, they become a powerhouse duo. The story was believable, and I was thoroughly invested the entire time. I would 100% wish the ending was different, but I can't be angry at this masterpiece. If you're looking for a drama with an '80s feel, a devoted hero, and a no-nonsense heroine who completely falls in love, this is your drama. But brace yourself for a wave of emotions.

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LOVE AND SACRIFICE

It’s a sad story, but I think that’s meaningful in its own way.”

This is a bittersweet drama about the sad things that happened during the Gwangju Uprising. It's a drama, you will start watching with a great sweet and loving romance, with a bit of suspense during the middle and you will end the drama with a lot of pain.

It's a sweet love story about 2 people who didn't give great childhood memories, which made them act strong and not worried about themselves much when they grew up but once they found each other. They didn't want to leave each other even when their family and close friends were all against them being together. They try all their ways and options to be together but guess God had different plans for them.

The drama also tells how the people were deeply affected because of the Gwangju uprising and how much pain it has caused for victims' families who made it out alive while their family members didn't.

In the end, it is about how you live even after losing someone who meant the world to you, and the worst part of it is that you will be the one living in regret about letting that person go first and you couldn't save them or be with them but in you will also be relieved that you are the one who survived, the person who left you didn't have to go through this pain for 41 years if you were the one who left the world first.

"I prayed every day that worse pain in life would come to me instead of you.
If I had been the one to die in the crossroads of life and death and you had lived, you would've experienced the tides i had experienced all this time."

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This drama is a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing melodrama that will also teach you about Korean history through the eyes of ordinary people and soldiers. Before starting it I had no idea what Gwangju uprising is so I am happy that I was able to learn more about it while watching and enjoying the drama itself.

All the four main characters were easy to love, I especially loved how they were putting the happiness of their friends and siblings before their own and just how genuinely selfless they all were. The actors did really a great job portraying these characters, especially but not entirely in the emotional scenes.

This drama also had some comedy scenes and although there were not many of them, they felt really funny and the humour was heartwarming. The drama itself was nicely paced and I think that the 12 episodes were enough and that it did not need to be longer as the story was told in a good way.

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