There is undeniably something poignant about the plot premise of ‘ At A Distance, Spring is Green’ as the series pursues the soul-searching quests of our tritagonists trying to guide themselves through friendships, love and their own personal conflicts in different ways.

Yet in between the vivid spring palette scheme of director Kim Jung Hyun ( Secret Garden, Legal High) ‘s cinematography , ‘ At A Distance, Spring is Green’ doesn’t escape from the realm of scrutiny either. The divergence from the original storyline by conservative production channel KBS ( including changing platonic friendships to romantic pairings and even a character’s sexuality),unsurprisingly has sparked a lot of controversial debate over the handling of characterisation and plot throughout the drama.

However against the more heated feud surrounding the drama’s storyline , our main cast offered refreshing performances as their onscreen personas . Idol and former child actor Park Ji-Hoon delivered a beguiling performance as Yeo Joon. Throughout the drama we learn more about Yeo Joon away from his cheery and fake facade of similes. Foregrounded as a byproduct of an oppressive and dysfunctional family consisting of his older brother Yeo Joon Wan( Na In Woo), as well as his parents Cha Jeong Joo ( So Hee Jung) and Yeo Myung Hoon ( Kim Hyung Mook). One of the major drama subplots surrounding Yeo Joon’s family did undeniably have some surprising twists, but this subplot was sadly underdeveloped as a consequence of the predominating screen time into Yeo Joon’s “ romance” with So Bin ( Kang Min Ah).

It wasn’t the case that Park Ji-Hoon and Kang Min Ah had terrible onscreen chemistry. Kang Min Ah is a brilliant actress and she certainly helped to convey sweet moments between their onscreen personas ( one of the loveliest scenes of the drama being when So Bin gave Yeo Joon a hyacinth). However, the plot often seemed to struggle with conveying a symbiotic and mutually respectful relationship between these two characters with Yeo Joon (in early episodes) manipulating So Bin’s feelings, and then So Bin happily going out with someone who infringed upon her self-respect . Aside from diverging from the original webcomic the pairing between these main leads was similar to So Bin merely acting as an emotional band aid for Joon’s emotional wounds; quick to slap on top in order to make their relationship seem “ soulful”, yet often
resulting in a one-sided investment of only So Bin hearing out Joon . Whilst in the later storyline Joon did arguably “ support” So Bin, this was in a fairly manipulative manner towards humiliating someone who caused her to get into a tricky scenario rather than trusting and listening to So Bin and working out their problems together. Instead whilst it is understandable that Joon needed some respectful boundaries with So Bin ( and vice versa), it provided a sense of distrust within their relationship by Joon often considering Soo Hyun ( Baek In Hyuk) more as a “trusted” confidant than So Bin throughout the drama.
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However arguably one of the most enjoyable feats of the drama was Yeo Joon’s gradual relationship with his older brother Yeo Joon Wan ( Na In Woo) and then of course his friendship with Nam Soo Hyun. For the former, Na In Woo was really dynamic at capturing his persona Joo Wan’s stoicism by his expressions rendering something which is “ more than meets the eye” in early scenes. His heart-rendering journey from being the “ estranged” and “ heartless” brother of Joon to expressing his actual worry and emotions as truths come to light was one of the few beautiful moments of character development in the drama . However the ultimate show stealer was of course Joon’s oddball friendship with Soo Hyun.

Ironically this gradual “ blood brother” bond was more intriguing at times than the predominating relationship of Joon with So Bin, as a consequence of being able to contrast and present the characters for all their flaws and strengths. In Hyuk is captivating as second male lead Nam Soo Hyun. A distinctly subversive character; he doesn’t beat around the bush about Yeo Joon being used for his money, his irritation at Yeo Joon sucking up to him and also acknowledges his own social stigma of being " arrogant" on campus whilst struggling to play a fraternal and paternal role for his brother Nam Goo Hyun( Kim Su Gyeom). However one of the biggest problems with Soo Hyun came from (controversy aside), his lacking focal investment with his equivocally intriguing backstory being disregarded in favour for the “ romantic” moments of the drama.

The “ romantic pairings” present in ‘ At A Distance, Spring Is Green’ seemed to provide an ultimate foil at times to greater development with our characters (especially in regards to our female characters) , with the biggest elephant in the room being So Bin.

Respectfully whilst we do get to see insights into So Bin’s life through her interactions with roommates Wang Young Ran ( Kwon Eun Bin) and Gong Mi Joo ( Woo Da Vi) , her " crush and best friend" Hong Chan Ki ( Choi Jung Woo) and some abrupt glimpses into her ” difficult“ past, there’s little to truly put together about So Bin’s greater sense of purpose in the drama . There is the evident argument that whilst Yeo Joon and Soo Hyun represent the problems of loneliness and economic injustice, So Bin is supposed to show the “ average Korean student”. However unlike her counterparts So Bin rarely has this greater calling towards why she was even studying in the first place, her sense of personality outside of her interactions with her roommates, classmates and romance also and being able to have a more profound backstory . Arguably there was a quick passing comment by So Bin that she wasn’t entirely sure about her future and we did get to see abruptly little snippets of So Bin’s past catching up on her , however, perhaps if the series had gone more into So Bin’s reasoning either to ” prove everyone wrong“, her struggles with feeling motiveless or if this was previously rooted from academic or social pressure in her backstory , So Bin would have felt less like a “ emotional band aid” for an enforced romantic pairing, and more of a sentient individual.

This was also a case and point problem with the " unrequited feelings” of Gong Mi Joo towards Soo Hyun. It wasn’t necessarily that Mi Joo was an unlikeable character. In fact actress Woo Da Vi was brilliant at portraying an otherwise paper thin role of the ” superficial rich girl” . However for a major proportion of Mi Joo’s character arc, she was often fractious by her “schoolgirl crush” as well as her motiveless and unhealthy obsession over Soo Hyun. If Mi Joo had tried to understand more about Soo Hyun beyond “ he gave me the drink at the convenience store and is good looking” by asking Young Ran ( and perhaps acknowledging at least their different outcomes), maturing slightly after her previous breakup or even being able to venture more into her backstory, then perhaps Mi Joo would have felt like a well-rounded character. However, it was tiresome to once more see the second female lead be stereotyped as “ pitiful” and “ needy” before being disregarded nearly entirely when she wasn’t “ necessary to the plot”.


Arguably one of the few female characters in this drama who was given justice for a major proportion of the early storyline was Young Ran. The best friend of Soo Hyun who proves herself to be a supportive and a down-to -earth friend, it is disappointing that the show did not take more time to invest in her character arc aside from playing match maker and her seemingly “ unseen” future . The ending overall was a little underwhelming to say the least- not bad per say, just failing to wrap up key character points and moments.


So is ‘ From A Distance Spring Is Green’ actually worth watching? It is evident to see where this drama has its own alluring appeal for certain viewers by really good casting , beautiful cinematography and the portrayal of hard-hitting issues ( such as abuse, bereavement, economic and academic pressure ) in an attempt to take off the audience demographic’s rose-tinted glasses associated with youth. On a more pessimistic note, it is evident to see how this drama struggles with mixed-criticism by viewers with the adapted storyline straying away beyond recognition from the webcomic, mismatched pacing in parts ( due to the investment in lacklustre pairings) , the “ mismatched” main pairing ( which dominates a high proportion of screen time) as well as stereotyping certain characters into mundane one-dimensional roles , diminishing from fortified character development as well as more original takes on the youth genre . Overall certainly not an unwatchable drama but perhaps not as impressively original, or well-crafted as viewers were anticipating either.