Record of Youth (2020)

This one was one of my most expected dramas of the year and it disappointed me week by week to a point where I started to feel ANGRY whenever it was monday and I HAD to watch it because I already made it that far (and also because I was watching with friends). The #1 reason why it frustrates so much lies on the “potential” factor.

(And before I start this review properly let me address that I do like slow-burn, slice-of-life, nothing-ever-happens dramas and it's really not the case here because some things do happen here, they are just poorly executed.)

Now, ROY.
The first episodes are actually quite alright, I would say. They do make a good job of introducing the world and the characters and the way everything is connected. But here is the catch: It doesn't go far from that. Specially considering, like I said, things do happen a lot in this drama, but in the most frustrating way possible: OFF-SCREEN. In a similar note, time in this drama is used in the most bizarre way possible too, whenever something big happens they will just jump a few days, weeks, months, years without going into any trouble of revealing that to you, the viewer. You'll sometimes realize things like “So that couple is dating for over a year? But it seems like two weeks has passed at most??? How and when did that happen??” and the answer will always be flashbacks.

Not your usual, logical, quick flashbacks but the craziest and longest flashbacks you could ever imagine. Every episode ends in a cliffhanger but the next one starts in a few [days, weeks, years, who knows] before the scene where the previous episode has ended. It even has flashbacks... inside... flashbacks. It's insane.

And..... chemistry. It doesn't have much. And I'm not talking about the main couple, I'm talking about pretty much everyone. This is maybe too personal, but to me, it really felt like there's a lack of warmness between the characters that made me feel so distant from the whole thing.

Acting-wise, this is alright, they're mostly good/great actors, the OSTs were great too, but the story is frustrating and awful to be honest. Every episode feels like a car getting ready to take off in the morning and then randomly stopping before you can take out of the garage because the battery has died. Can't recommend at all.

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Fractured Romance and Dysfunctional Friends and Family

Where do I start? I’m not too fond of shows where a best friend tries to take away his friend’s girlfriend, so I struggled with this one. I stopped at episode 12 for about six months. I have about eight shows on pause, so I decided to finish this one.

I would classify this as a family melodrama with a spattering of friendship issues. The story was hard to watch at times. The family was dysfunctional, finally coming together at the end. The three male friends were anything but friends, and portraying them as friends was awkward. There were a few funny moments, but the overpowering part of the story was the devastating attempt at romance. It included Sa Hye Joon’s best friend following his girlfriend around. Was it jealously, or did he think he could take her away? Who knows, but it’s the worst kind of betrayal, and it doesn’t look any better on screen than it does in real life. His girlfriend, Ahn Jung Ha, who supposedly has it all together, can’t seem to catch on? She calls his best friend late at night in the rain for a ride. He comes in when he drops her off. That should tell her what kind of guy he is. The fact that she invited him in is crossing the line. It goes on and on with him spending more time with her than her boyfriend, to the point where you become unsure which one she likes. What happened at those times they were together no one knows. The story makes a point at making you wonder. To do her boyfriend a favor and protect him, she dumps Sa Hye Joon and never looks back. We see a couple of images where she thinks about him, but that’s it. “I love you, let’s break up” is one of the dumbest lines I’ve ever heard. But she got over that ‘I love you’ part in a hurry. Telling him, that’s enough as he tries to follow her into the elevator. In my opinion, he dodged a bullet.

Remember, she went after him in the beginning. Did she think dating a movie star would be easy? His agent trying to restrict his access to his girlfriend fell flat and was unrealistic. Back to the friends. The story takes them to a cum-ba-ya moment on the swing sets. Hae Hyo acting like he never went after his friend’s girlfriend. I cringed when they even talked to each other. In the end, Hye Joon does his military service and returns, meeting Jung Ha at a movie shoot. At this point, I would have walked right by her. That would have been a better ending. She dumped him when he needed her the most. Doesn’t he remember this? In fact, she destroyed him. Who forgets that? The one minute at the end of the show did nothing to change that image of Jung Ha. Bouncing off down a path talking smack to each other was just not believable; if she dumped him once, she’d do it again. Just walk away. You can’t trust her.

Even though I didn’t like the story, the acting was good. Park Bo Gum and Park So Dam are two of my favorite actors, and they didn’t disappoint me. In fact, I watched this disaster of a show because of them. At least half if not more of this show was an attempt at some sort of weird romance. I can’t believe this was the best the writers could do. The story took you places that were just strange, leaving the romance part a trainwreck. Truthfully, I wouldn’t recommend watching this series.

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It had potential

The beginning truly grips you and you feel for each and every character so much that you can't stop watching, but especially Hye Joon. We've all at some point been in the situation where it feels like the entire universe is telling you to quit. But, HJ is stronger than most of us - he doesn't quit, he persists, he cries, he gets over it, he succeeds.

And then it's all downhill from there. There was no personal struggle left for the writers to use, I guess, so they brought in side characters that served no other purpose, but to cause conflict. Other than HJ, they were all one-dimensional, and simply did what they did, cause....reasons, I guess.

Jung Ha was clumsy. Hae Hyo was rich. HJ's ex was evil. His mother was a housekeeper. His father played favourites with his kids. The grandpa was a burden. Min Jae was a saint. JH's mother only existed to make her cry. Literally everyone character had a one-word-personality.

The ending, however, was what really sealed this show's fate of low ratings. I don't know how we went from communicating about issues and finding solace in each other, to hiding, lying and avoiding, but I do know that I hate "breaking up only to get back together after 3 years" trope even more than I hate Subway product placement.
And I really hate Subway product placement.

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IMO - The biggest disappointment in this year!

This series had everything going for it: good cast (both main and supporting), good story background (struggle in show biz), good music (some good singers lined up for OST) but alas it was not enough to keep this series from sinking.

The show started out great! The first few episodes or rather the first half was good but the writing and direction really messed up the second half. I loved the characters of both male leads but the character of the female lead was just bad - of all the characters in the show, I disliked her the most. The acting was good but the characters that were written for these actors were poorly written.

The show had multiple plotlines in the first half and they were interesting but none of these were taken to the logical conclusion. None of the plotlines is truly explored. Why would someone want to watch a show where the plots are not concluded properly? The struggles of actors from poor backgrounds, the impact of cyberbullies on actors' lives, a possible one-sided love, parents overly involved in their kids' lives (and using money), were some of the interesting plots but god these plots were messed up big time.

The second half added atleast 1 more interesting storyline but it was just left hanging. On top of that, they add unnecessary and boring characters. The last few episodes were painful to watch. I mean the last 4 episodes, I was just fast-forwarding half the time and finishing the episodes asap just to complete the show - seriously a lot of waste episodes.

The only plus points: Music and some good acting from male leads and their families.

Bottonmine: DO NOT WATCH AND WASTE YOUR TIME! I have not included any spoilers in my review but even if you skip this show you will not miss anything. I will not recommend anyone to watch this show.

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Talent wasted on a mediocre script

Park So Dam - she has a great voice. I loved her in Cinderella and the Four Knights, and heard she was exceptional in Parasite, which I did not see. I'll be honest, I think any actress could have been dropped into this part and they would have been okay.

Park Bo Gum - he is a wonderful actor. He is able to portray a full range of emotions with nothing more than his eyes. For anyone that has not seen I Remember You (also known as Hello Monster), he is EXCEPTIONAL in that! There is something very charismatic about Bo Gum, and the more of his works I watch, the most impressed I am.

This show started out well. I loved the background look into the career of modeling and the concept of two good friends being on opposite ends of the economic as well as career scales. The main characters started out being very up-front with one another, verbalizing their likes, dislikes, etc. However, once they actually got involved with one another, the communication stopped. In Asian dramas, I often wonder why the characters don't just talk to each other, it was such a disappointment that this was a problem here as well.

I loved the woman that played his agent, she brought some good comedic talent to the table. However, there were so many story lines going on at once, some of which were never fully fleshed out, some of which were pointless, some of which were just downright irritating. There seemed to be more happening with other people in the show than the main three characters. This made the show seem needlessly long.

If I'm honest, the thing that kept me coming back was Bo Gum's acting. That and the hopes of a good ending. On that score I was very disappointed. The ending was so lackluster and open-ended, it felt like there should have been a concluding episode following the last episode. This is another thing that I notice about Asian dramas, they tend to use a lot of filler to make more episodes and then wrap everything up in the last five minutes. Writers could definitely take a cue from the writers of Legend of the Blue Sea, which has the best ending of any Asian drama that I've ever seen.

So, my long-winded evaluation of Record of Youth, see it for Park Bo Gum, but don't expect much otherwise.

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Plot goes downhill after the first few episodes

Honestly, I loved the first couple of episodes, and drama showed so much potential in terms of character development. The chemistry between the leads was promising too. However, after the first few episodes, the plot became extremely lackluster. The same problems were rehashed again and again, and resolved with no character development from our leads. Perhaps the only character who seemed to have developed is Hye Jun, while Jung Ha and the rest were relegated to the sidelines.

I did find the resolution between father and son at the end to be sweet though. But it was too little too late; they could have done away with 90% of the father's shouting and it would have made no difference to the plot. And Hye Hyo's pining for Jung Ha just really didn't sit right with me, not only because she's attached but she's your best friend's girl??? Come on, man. That plot line was dragged out with no resolution too.

Park Bo Gum honestly carried the whole show for me. He's the only reason I continued watching the damn thing TILL THE END even after such poor writing omg. The varied roles really showcased just how good of an actor he is. And Park So Dam's talents were so underutilized!! JUSTICE FOR HER PLEASE. And may they pick better scripts next time. :')

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It’s dry :(

Unfortunately, this was not a great drama, it was really disappointing since the first few episodes were quite good, the vibe was bubbly and it gave me the typical kdrama feels.... I was buying it. Then after like 6 episodes, it was going the wrong track because literally, nothing happened!!!!! there was no plot full stop. The drama had no exciting plot or anything that made it a drama it was just like watching someone’s 'a day in my life' youtube video, making it really dry and not feel like a drama. However , I thought the message was great as it talked about how it is hard getting settled and stabilising your future in the 20s and the hardships especially what models and actors go to get into the industry and the aftermath after getting in like scandals and becoming famous. The characters were terrible in terms of personalities as I felt they were just misunderstanding or exaggerating situations, especially the main girl lead (I don’t want to spoil the drama). To wrap this up A. the message was great as it gave all of us a reality check that it takes time to heal and to get to where you want. And B. The drama did not provide any feels that is was drama.

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Though Not Particularly Good, I Still Really Liked It...

I was really excited to watch this K-drama due to the hype that this series has been receiving on social media (especially the K-Drama subreddit thread). I've also heard a lot about Park Bo Gum and about how this is his last drama before his military draft. I was excited to see my first K-drama starring him. It's also pretty cool to see Park So Dam, from the Oscar-winning 'Parasite' as the FL. Though the episode was a bit slow, by the end, I was hooked! I am really liking this series so far! It is nice to see a K-drama focus on people struggling to achieve their dreams against their family's wishes or mean superiors which is definitely relatable for millions of people around the world. I also liked the cinematography, which was clean and soft.

On a side note, why is Hye-jun struggling to make money, working as a bodyguard, at Subway and as a busboy if he is a top model whose looks customers, other models and a top fashion designer fawn over? Also, why is Jung Ha's boss so b*tchy? Like she even interrupted Hye-jun who was trying to defend her? Like what?! I'm quite sure that she is allowed to do that since she is technically working for the models. I'm so ready to see her pummeled into the ground by Jung Ha's imminent success!

Watching the second episode, the pacing of the series seems to have established itself. This drama is slow. It's more like a slice-of-life drama but I'm really liking it! Park Bo Gum's character has immediately become my favourite and I found myself waiting for him to appear onscreen. I cannot wait to see him achieve success and make his naysayers, including his family, gape in disbelief!

On a side note, I love that there is LGBT representation in these newer K-dramas, first Itaewon Class and now, Record of Youth! Although the character in this drama is a fashion designer who lusts after and wants to exploit Hye-jun, it is nice seeing more people like me represented. Hopefully, they will be able to humanize him like Itaewon Class's Hyeon-yi though it doesn't seem like they will...

Episode 3 wasn't as strong as the previous episodes as not much actually happened. I do continue to find Park Bo Gum captivating and absolutely LOVE his scenes. I really feel like the drama hits its stride when it focuses on Hye-jun and his burgeoning career. I don't really care for the other characters to be honest, even the FL who I'm not really feeling the romance between the two leads. Probably because of how rushed, unrealistic and cheesy it is. The snappy dialogue between them feels unnatural too (as others have pointed out) (or at least the translation seems awkward) (not sure if it flows better in Korean though). Anyways, I'm getting the feeling that Hae Hyo is gonna backstab Hye-jun in the future. I feel like Hae Hyo is kind to Hye-jun specifically because he feels bad for him. He pities him. Having him around makes Hae Hyo feel more successful. However, when Hye-jun gets more famous and successful, Hae Hyo will try to backstab out of jealousy. He's already trying to see An Jeong behind Hye-jun's back. It seems like he likes her just because she doesn't like him, which makes him feel more attracted to her. The fact that An Jeong is a fan of Hye-jun and not him clearly irks Hae Hyo, so he wants to make her his fan. He sees her as a challenge. That's my thoughts on Hae Hyo so far. Hopefully, I'm wrong...

Episode 4 was quite slow as once again, not much happened and there were a lot of filler scenes which padded out the running time of the drama. There was a lot of Hye-jun and An Jeong moments which I didn't care for to be honest. Their relationship is way too rushed and to be frank, I'm tired of seeing straight couples. I actually ship Hye-jun with Hae Hyo lol. I did love the ending (which although a bit too rushed was satisfying) where Hye-jun gets to upstage the actor who was mean to him in the first episode though. On a side note, the fact that Hye-jun got the villain role in the film was quite big! I thought that he would just be like a friend. I don't get why Jin Joo hasn't been reported by any of the employees. There's no way that An Jeong was the first co-worker she bullied.

Watching Episode 5, my fears for this drama are starting to manifest. There was once again way too much filler scenes that focused on side characters who I still didn't care for. The family melodrama about the brother moving out was unnecessary and served no purpose. The snappy banter between the main couple still feels forced and unnatural. Still don't see any chemistry between Hye-Jun and Jeong An. That confession at the end was random and way too rushed. I still ship Hye-Jun with Hae-Hyo to be honest. The only part of the episode that shined was when it focused on Hye-Jun's career in the last 20 minutes where Hye-Jun's acting talent was displayed as he delved deep into his villain character. Hopefully, the drama focuses more on his career though I doubt that it will...

Episode 6 was much better than the previous episode though there are a number of plot points that didn't make sense. Like why is the old manager angry that Hye-jun left him when he was literally not paying him? Da fuq? How was he even able to get a high-paying job at a good company representing a top actor when his old agency was barely getting by, not being able to pay its clients? And why is Hye-jun's new manager not going to bat for him? Shouldn't she be tracking down that director and explain why Hye-jun left his old manager? And why would a director drop an actor just because he changed representation?

Family scenes continue to bore. I didn't care for the main romance, just Hye-jun and his career.
A gay relationship is scandalous while a straight relationship would have been praised. After the ground-breaking portrayal of a transgender character in Itaewon Class, this handling of an LGBT topic is just disappointing. What a horrible reporter! She doesn't even check her sources! It's so obvious that Lee Tae-su will try to slander Hye-jun for leaving the agency.

Though this drama wasn't particularly good, I still did enjoy it a lot and will greatly miss looking forward to watching it every Monday and Tuesday night when I get home from work :'( Record of Youth kind of exemplifies the charm and appeal of K-dramas for me. There's just this innocence, this purity and optimism that is just perfect for escapism, especially for someone like me who goes to school everyday studying something he hates, something that his parents pushed him to do. After long, exhausting days of school, and dreading the start of every week, it was a blessing to have something to look forward to every Monday and Tuesday night. Watching K-dramas, such as Record of Youth, calms me and gives me hope. Hope that I will be happy someday. And what more can we ask for...

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PBG Fans this is THE drama for you!!!!

Okay. Admittedly I watched this drama mainly because of PBG!!!!! I think that speaks for itself. But I stayed because of the story.

While watching this drama I first thought it was about youth romance between the ML and FL but as the story unfolds more each episode I got a feeling that it was more than that. As the story gets deeper, I realized that this is about the life of the ML and what he was going through during his "youth", his 20s. As someone who's in my mid 20's, I found his character very relatable. The way he was going through his quarter life crisis just seemed so real. The pressure he felt to prove his self to other, the time management, building his career, finding love, and basically just finding balance in things.

One thing that I really really loved in this drama is that it showed the versatility of PBG as an actor. Since he was playing as an actor here, he was able to portray a variety of character within the drama. Hence, making this drama THE drama to watch for his fans. It was seriously like a fan service served on a silver platter!!!! <3

There's actually only one thing in this drama that I didn't like, at some point - especially the ending- it felt like the drama was cut short. I know that from the beginning it was really a 16 episode drama, but even though the ending was okay and realistic, after getting attached to other character I felt that their stories were cut short. It felt like the major supporting characters that we saw in the beginning became extras towards the end. There was really no growth. Like for Haehyo, we don't know actually know what happened to his career after. How is his relationship with his mom now. How Jinu and Haena are doing. The Grandpa and HJs dad, his mom, his brother, what are they doing after 2 years passed.

The ending left more questions asked than answered. You know if they made this drama a 20 episode one I really wouldn't mind <3 hehehehe but yeah that's just me lol

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How I view this drama (Updated)

How I viewed this drama before I completed it and had only watched 8 episodes:
Original ranking:
Acting 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch 9.0
Overall 9.0

This drama is slow and medium-hearted. It depicts the life of the two main leads, who are fighting to make a name for themselves in a job they are passionate about. It is a drama that focuses on the real-life struggles of the leads, and the people that surround them. As a result of this, not everyone will find this drama interesting or enjoyable and that's okay.
Secondly, the acting by the cast is enjoyable and helped make the plot stand out a little bit more. As I watched the currently aired eight episodes, I did not feel uncomfortable by the way the actors chose to represent the characters, nor did I feel like one actor was outshining another, so I applaud the actors not only for their chemistry but for their ability to provide such a comfortable performance for myself as a viewer.

Thirdly, the script and plot so far, is it unique? 50/50. There are a few other dramas out there that depicted the struggles and life of someone in the entertainment industry, and the struggles of their female counterpart, however, the parts of this drama that do make this plot unique in my opinion, is the approach the writers have taken to touch upon the human aspects of some of these characters. In these types of shows, it isn't unrealistic to see the 'mean, rude, obnoxious' character(s) that constantly appear over and over and that constantly make the plot more generic. This drama does have obnoxious, rude characters, but thankfully it isn't the initial focus of the drama. Because the writer chose to focus on the humane aspects of the characters, we get a broader glimpse into the struggles these characters are going through, and rather than having them build up a facade for the public, they choose to continue to be as true to themselves as they possibly can.
Lastly. The way the overall plot is executed and the speed of the drama is slow but not too slow for my liking. Rather, I find it at just the right pace of not too fast nor too slow, to properly dive into the stories of the characters. Take note that as I stated, this is a humane drama about the struggles of the leads in their desired workplace, if the pace was too fast we would lose a majority of the plot and barely understand the key aspects of the overall story, let alone the relationships between characters wouldn't seem as genuine as they are at this moment in time. To sum it all up, I believe this drama is great for those who want to watch a nicely paced and humane drama, either as background noise or as something to just relax to.

How I viewed this drama after I completed it (UPDATED REVIEW):

I'm sorry but what the absolute hell was the writer(s) thinking? They completely lost their way the second half of the drama. The at first humble leads, who communicated quite thoroughly in the beginning, then changed and struggled to communicate and treated each other appallingly.
The various plot barriers (conflicts) thrown at them were quite lackluster as well, and the majority, if not all of them weren't needed!

I am absolutely astounded at how the writer(s) who had a perfectly somewhat realistic, and humane drama, in the beginning, could completely throw it all under a bus story-wise, and instead focus their resources in an attempt to 'cause drama and keep it entertaining' for views. As a result of their decision, the characters became really bland very quickly. Did the writer(s) even care for their characters?! As a writer myself (ie. Fanfiction and some original) I genuinely care about my characters and where they are going to end up, even if it's all fictional. Meanwhile, these writer(s) seemed to write willy nilly and destroy the original intent of the story. To summarise it all: I am severely disappointed.

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RIP to my expectations.

I'm writing this only to get rid of my anger and frustration, i was so in love with the drama at first, the cast was good the story was good, everything was good until about episode 8.
After episode 8 the writer started creating a lot of unwanted problems, the chemistry and understanding between the lead couple disappeared, the friendship between the main leads everyone adored was all gone. The whole story went down hill still i forced my self to watch it till ep 15
later i found out the disappointment of an ending and didn't bother to watch the last episode.

my many problems with the story
1) hye jun and jeong had such beautiful understanding between them i was impressed, but the writer completely killed that after episode 8

2) jeong ha never actually fulfilled her dream, they should have focused on her character development but they didn't at all, it was as if she was a supporting character after episode 8.

3)hye jun's and hae hyo's friendship was so lovable at first, and i understand it all went downhill for reasons but neither hye jun nor hae hyo tried to retrieve it, years of friendship just worthless

4) Hae hyo's father was introduced in the plot so he should have had a bigger role in changing the mother and supporting the children correctly.

5) jeong ha's mother was introduced but the did nothing special with the character she was just a way to kill time and extent the episode to one hour

6) hye na's relationship with jin woo should have had a better story surrounding them.

the reporter lady was just annoying to the core, i didn't like min jae's character after a while either

the writer had such excellent ideas but why did she create problems she wouldn't be able to solve?
I'm more angry since they practically wasted PBG and PSD's talent , i had so much expectations but in the end all went down the drain where i didn't even bother to waste my time on the last episode.
i need my 15+ hours i spent on this drama, I'm so annoyed and i definately would not recommend

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Record of Absolutely Nothing

I was really excited to start watching this drama and the beginning didn't disappoint. Right off, I could tell that this was different. There was no unnecessary drama. No ridiculous misunderstandings to keep the two leads apart just for the sake of it. No mysterious past connection that either one can't remember. This might be one of the most realistic relationships I've seen in a kdrama so far. Just two people who meet, start to like each other, let each other know and start dating and fall in love. It was so sweet. Annnnnd that's pretty much it. I can't remember exactly what episode it was, I think the episode that ended with them dancing in the rain. I feel like it should've ended there because everything after that was just so blah. Nothing really happened. Hye Jun became famous but that was to be expected. I feel like this drama was full of nothing. Relationships that didn't really lead anywhere, friendships that didn't really change. I gave it a 6.5 because overall this wasn't a bad drama, it was just a nothing drama with really good acting.

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