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Youth of May korean drama review
Completed
Youth of May
3 people found this review helpful
by Figgo
Apr 11, 2024
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 4.0
Story 2.0
Acting/Cast 4.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 4.0

Another Frustrating Romeo and Juliet Story

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

Sorry, but I really hate Romeo and Juliet, so keep that in mind.

Acting/Cast: This is the first area that began nagging at me. I wasn't a fan of the female lead's acting. It felt stiff. Even the male lead's acting felt a bit stiff. Maybe it's a lack of chemistry between the leads. I was never able to fully get on board with their relationship. Really, they hardly know each other. I thought the side characters did good though. The strongest performance was probably from the 2nd female lead. The male lead's mom stands out to me too. 4.5/10

Writing: The drama started strong with an entertaining premise (although cliché). However, once the plot took a turn and became depressing and angsty, it quickly became frustrating and predictable as well. Yes, I get it's a tragedy, but the entire drama was just a bunch of characters continually making horrible decisions. If the plot requires a death of a major character, at least don't let the cause of their death be their own fault. It's not as much of a tear-jerking moment otherwise. I thought the second female lead ultimately had a more interesting story with a lot more potential (although she was pretty annoying in the first half), but unfortunately none of the plot points in her story were expounded. With her character, it was just dead end after dead end. She was even completely abandoned by the writers at the drama's conclusion in favor of the main storyline. Another issue I had with the writing was the plot line between the female lead and her father. It was predictable and unrealistic, which kept me from being able to connect with the female lead. Also, the male lead's father didn't make sense to me - a really abusive and seemingly psychotic, power hungry dude that sees his family members as objects, suddenly develops feelings and a sense of familial love. Throughout the entire drama they kept emphasizing how much he doesn't give a crap about them, so the sudden drastic change at the end left me trying to rationalize his behavior in my head. On a positive note, me favorite aspect of this drama was the storyline with the kids. I liked how their friendship developed as well as the character development of the male lead's little brother. Ugh...it's so frustrating because there were so many interesting facets that either weren't explored enough or weren't explored at all. 2/10

Direction/SFX/Music: This drama did have an old vibe to it, which seems completely intentional because it takes place in 1980. I don't like the style though. I loved Snowdrop, which takes place in 1987, and that drama feels like it has a much higher production value without feeling too modern. The OST is fine, but it's not my style either. 5/10

Entertainment Value: It was fairly entertaining. I had no desire to drop it, but I also put off finishing it and watched other dramas instead. I had a good idea of how it was going to play out, so I wasn't too bothered about finishing the drama quickly. I had a hard time connecting with the leads, but there were other characters that I was interested in. Too bad the writers weren't as interested in those other characters. In the first half of the drama, the leads were more compelling to watch, but in the second half everyone else became more compelling to watch. 4/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 4/10 mainly due to my hatred for Romeo and Juliet and how frustrating everything was. Oh gosh... the game of hot potato at the end with that damn watch was so annoying.
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