Youth of May (2021)

breathtaking and emotional

I think it's pretty clear from the start how there's going to be a tragic ending...Nevertheless the entire series was a piece of art. The shooting style as well as the overall tone the drama gave was so on point. I regret not educating myself more about the Gwangju Uprising and its history before watching this because then things would have made a lot more sense.

The cast was impeccable...expected nothing less from the main leads Dohyun and Minsi (came from Sweet Home aha) as well as the second female lead (she did so well in Class of Lies). This drama felt similar to "When the Weather is Fine" where it was so relaxing and satisfying--until chaos strikes and nothing goes right. This melodrama was great depiction of reality merged with fiction. The harsh reality of what was politically going on especially amongst those who were hierarchically involved.

The joy and sorrow were expressed so well from the characters. I shed a few tears especially towards the ending episodes because the storyline was so moving. The OST played a big part in the success of the film. If you are someone who likes a nice drama with a peaceful and realistic vibe, definitely watch Youth of May.

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devastatingly beautiful

Youth of May is in many ways a traditional kdrama romance. It uses several common tropes of the industry and the romance genre. The first episodes, while sweet and silly, could be part of many other romances we've seen. The script and the acting are really strong, adding unique charm and flavour to each of these characters.

But this traditional aspect of the drama only makes what we know will come more immensely devastating. From the beginning, we know tragedy will strike, and if you're even remotely familiar with the history of the Gwangju Uprising, you know the extension of that tragedy. All of our characters, even with their unique stories and quirks, are common everyday people. Our protagonists fall in love, face drama and hardship, the prejudices of other people, and have to make tough choices as they grow up into adults. But in the middle of all of that, the uprising happens and the military is sent to Gwangju.

The series does an incredible job of showing the surprise and the betrayal the Gwangju felt at the time and provides no excuses for the brutality of the regime. And in relation to our protagonists, how historical events like this cut the life of people in two. As someone coming from a country with a recent history of state violence, what stayed with me the most was this. How our leads are just everyday young people, with a sweet romance, a bunch of things happening in their lives and the possibility of a future ahead. Suddenly history happens and nothing it's the same again.

My favourite thing about this series is how it makes multiple nods to how the story of our leads is tied to the story of so many people whose stories we don't know. How it's a romance but it's also an exercise in memory.

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Right Person Wrong Time

The chemistry is hands down the best part of the drama and I think the show did a fantastic job of intertwining historical events with the personal story of two people who just happened to meet and fall in love with each other during that time. The first few episodes were more lighthearted and fun, and even as the story became heavier and life became more difficult, I felt like we still saw the soft moments between the two leads, the stolen moments of safety and comfort. It really felt like two people against the world.

Maybe my only gripe with this is the ending. I have no problem with the plot itself, but pace-wise it felt like a rushed and forced tragedy and the aftermath wasn't explained well either.

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A perfect cast i must say

LEE DO HYUN NEVER DISSAPOINTS ME . when i heard he is on this new drama cast , i was excited for this . waited for this also , i must say this was worth of wait . All the characters PLAYED THEIR ROLE SOO WELL. i dont know much about this gwangju uprising story but definitely i loved . they potrayed 80's days so perfectly . never got bored at all. GO MIN SI slayed her role . i loved her at sweet home as well as at this series .

i literally hated hee tae s fathers role . i dont what was he after but he ruined many lives .

you wouldnt regret watching this .

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Beautiful and bittersweet!

I decided to watch this after I found out that Go Min Si and Lee Do Hyun (who played as siblings in Sweet home,) were going to be the main leads as romantic love interests! I was pretty excited because I have always shipped them after watching Sweet Home and wanted to see them finally playing as a couple.

I don't know how to describe the type of drama this is but it did revolve quite a bit around a lot of protests, democracy, and corrupt governmental stuff that I did not understand and wasn't really my cup of tea. However, the plot itself and the chemistry between Do Hyun and Min Si made the story a lot more interesting and intriguing to watch.

The chemistry between Hee Tae (Do hyun) and Myung Hee (min si) was just spot on. It felt like they were star-crossed lovers of the typical rich man who falls for poor girl type and rich man gets forced into an arranged marriage with someone else. Personally, I felt the romance in this drama is not just the typical rich man/poor woman love story, it had some small twist in it where Myung Hee's best friend, Soo Ryun, get forced into an arranged marriage with the man Myung Hee loved. Hee Tae and Soo Ryun don't like each other but they couldn't get out of it. I feel like you don't see a lot of these type of scenarios in kdramas. I always see arranged marriages happen with just a random girl popping up midway through the drama or something like that, but never a best friend.

I love Hee Tae because of how straightforward and persistent he was in winning Myung Hee over. Myung Hee of course was trying to be distant because of the circumstances but Hee Tae really didn't care and was willing to just drop everything to be with her. I was really hoping they'd be end game and stay together after the whole war or protest thingy going on ends. Unfortunately, Myung Hee died trying to save her brother and went missing for years, which I feel is so messed up. Like why must you directors end her life in this way LOLOL. I mean I don't mind sad/bittersweet endings but I just don't think Myung Hee' being killed off was necessary. Like her dad just gave her his whole bank account for her to use, live on, and take care of her brother but that same day ends up dying too like wtf. LOLOL.

Anyway, despite the ending, the story in general and chemistry between the two made this drama worth watching and I'm still satisfied. I really hope to see another miracle happen where they end up in a drama again together and maybe this time with both being alive and have a happy ending LOL.

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Not worthy in all means

After watching complete drama I got one confusion that what the director wants to tell or show. It’s neither shown the Korean history nor the love story properly. The most satisfying thing is that it has only 12 episodes otherwise it would have wasted some more of my precious time. Throughout the drama the ML or FL or some other characters keep on making wrong decisions and keep on suffering for that. If you see those wrong decisions you will get confused either they are brainless or the one who is watching that.
My review might be different than maximum of others who wrote here but this is my true feeling after watching this drama.
This is the main problem with Korean dramas, they try to impose feeling in a very brutal way,(spoiler alert) I don’t know exactly why they did a bad ending for this drama even after they(ML FL) struggled so much for being together. Frankly speaking I thought in the same way that the FL doesn’t deserve the ML because of annoying annoying decisions, she never listened or prioritise the ML first, most of the times she made bad decisions and hurt the ML. Really I pity on ML, he always respects her decision and love her deeply but in the end he got nothing.

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When fantasy meets reality ((your blood will boil, and your heart will flutter too))

As (I had seen it for a true story like this) but in a different way, to be honest, I felt that they wouldn't stand a chance from the start even though they knew each other for a short time, their love lasted over many years.
This is a drama set in the '80s, during the turbulent student demonstrations, there is a nurse and a doctor there. Although there are some medical things, it is not a medical drama. It's like a romantic meeting on a blind date where the girl pretends to be her friend, and her only goal is to make sure that the man won't love her and won't want to meet her again, but events change................
*** characters****
Hwang Hee Tae: I think it's safe to say that he was madly in love with Myung Hee, he's funny but sad - he's perfect with all his flaws!
Myung Hee: I love her. She does her best to live honestly and her selflessness is very attractive. She is the kindest person who will risk himself to help a stranger. Although she lives a difficult life, she will never show her sadness in front of the people who take care of her, she is a very strong woman, which is why I respect her.
- Hwang Ji Nam (Hee Tae's father): annoying, hateful, cunning, ruthless, traitor, and if I could - I'd kill him myself
It represents blind evil, greed and hypocrisy, controlling his eldest son like a puppet, or leading him like a dog while ignoring the younger.
***** some quotes:
"In the face of the storm, the only thing we could do was hold each other's hands so we wouldn't lose each other."
"Give us the strength and the courage to swim safely throughout this life"
************************************************** ******************************************
This drama shares lessons about family and love. The circumstances that revolve around our family can really influence our choices in life but in the end, we still have the right to make the decision ourselves. Loving someone can be difficult and can change our lives forever but if the other person is worth the risk, why not?!!.
I concluded by saying:
"Death" does not always refer to the body, but to dreams that are not lived, and hopes that are shattered. Which makes you wonder what it means to live? Are the person who gave up their dreams somehow alive or are they dying with each passing day?

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Deeply moving

The acting from every cast member is top notch especially the leads in the first half of the series. The leads are so natural in their acting that it almost feels like a real couple in courtship. The thriftiness of some of the characters was poignant too. The story is tight , and by dramaland's standards, convincing. The Gwangju uprising is quite shocking, seeing how the military abuse the public is infuriating. But am quite sorely disappointed with the ending for the couple. I can understand that their relationship is a reflection of the pain of lives lost and military brutality during the Gwangju uprising. But couldn't the drama end on a brighter note? Rather than painting a pitch dark night, can't there be some twinkling stars to give the audience some emotional crutches to hold on to after they journeyed through the horror of the uprising, and insanity of the leads' growing up years? Nevertheless, its one of the best dramas in 2021 - made my 'heart flutter' and the leads’ chemistry is to die for!

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Close to being a masterpiece

The show had an interesting premise, the Gwangju uprising, which is so intriguing it'll require a few Google searches to fully understand what and why this was important. For that an A+ to the show great way to spread awareness. Acting by the cast, fantastic, even the child actors were great. Specially Lee Do Hyun, the guy can is just amazing...his love for Go Min Si's character was very evident, and heartwarming, traumatic events were beautifully shown by him as well as the funny and quipped scenes, just awesome. Go Min Si was good but not on par with Lee Do Hyun, the chemistry from her side lacked and often required the story to show an alternate perspective through which the audience was made to realise that she did love the ML(-0.5). Then there are the SML and SFL who are just if not to create problems are just there for the sake of being there. The show introduces us to the uprising via SFL who seems the most distant from the cause, you never learn her motivation for the protest and only cause more problems in the main characters life unknowingly and the SML would have been tolerable if stayed as the oblivious moron but he too out of jealousy ended up creating more problems like ffs they are more annoying than the Villain of the show.(-1)
The show probably wanted to make people realise how innocent people who had nothing to do with the Uprising were caught in the crossfire but they shouldn't have then made it a core characteristic of the SFL, because by the end of the show that's how anyone will know her.
Had a lot of potential though, the show started a lot of good story points which were either never addressed or were just brought to the conclusion very easily, one such point was the FL and SFL with the past trauma they had.

Its a good experience anyway, tells the viewers about the brutality under the military that South Korea had to go through in 1980, the number of people who died meaningless deaths and how that even now they will not have to face justice because that's how the real world is.

sorry for the long rant. Thanks for reading. See you later😁✌️

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I can say Masterpiece

So glad that I watched it , I even sighned to my acc just to write a review on it ,,, tbh so thankful for how many years they made me cry , so glad I watched it not disappointed at all , I won't lie that I was wondering if it worth it at some point , I was thinking it became cold , wondering about the fation and the period they intruducing the acting and many thoughts , but no , thorgh all the ups and downs as you finish watching you'll know that the time you spent wasn't wasted ...
So glad I choose this drama to watch so satisfied so grateful for all the actors the production and all
Tbh other thing at middle of it , I wondered about the ost and listened to it on yt the calm one by Kim bum Soo and when I read the name of the singer I knew this drama will turn to end & I'm about to watch something big and my supesion wasn't wrong , :)
I'm not the kind who likes spoilers or spoil a thing so if you read this review I don't think you'll get spoiler lol although I put a spoiler alert ~ anyway I wrote this to inform u that this work deserve watching
And to express how I feel now so when comeback I'll remember this ~
I love the feelings it gave me and how much I cried really ...
And the actor sooooooo handsome I fell in love🥺🥺
And yeah ,, thank u for reading this , & again u have to watch it . :) ~

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Watch this if you're okay with tears and blues aftermath

The drama should win an Oscar for real! I just wanna kiss the writer-nim and the actors for this drama !

First of all, let's talk about the acting! The hero and heroine's acting deserve a standing ovation! Besides, this is the first drama of gominsi (heroine) as main lead. The melodrama prince and princess should be titled for both main lead. Their tears just makes me crying on my bed for days. And the antagonist, i just wanna choke him to death for real. Thanks covid for the fact I can't fly to south korea right now.

Next, the plot! The romance is revolving by a real historical situation where the riot and the evilness of the government are portrayed perfectly. The messages of the drama is strongly shown. The trauma, the tears, the lost of loved one and the life that goes on afterwards. The fact that lots of hwang hee tae out there, living their lives while barely stand on their feet. Kudos to writer!!

I'm crying again while writing this review. Feels like reminiscing the painful memories.

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It had potential but the direction and script failed

I had high expectations for this drama but they weren't met. I started watching because of Lee Dohyun but his acting was kinda average in this. I think the character didn't fit him. For me, Go Minsi's acting stole the show. I was so impressed by her. Overall, the story had a lot of potential but I think the drama was badly directed and the script was lacking. The drama deal with very serious situations and a lot of time I felt like it just couldn't live up to the seriousness of the situations; It felt superficial. I found it inconsistent, sometimes forcing comedy when it just didn't fit. It took a lot of me to finish it. Despite this, I was satisfied with the ending.

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