Our Youth: My #1 BL Show

I can honestly say this is my #1 favorite BL show of all time, and has left a lasting impression on me in a way that no other show ever has! I truly cannot recommend this show enough - it ticks every box for me. Junsei's and Kenshin's acting (as well as the supporting cast's) is incredible, the soundtrack is perfect, and the plot is very strong from start to end. The directing is breathtakingly beautiful in a way that I rarely see from shows, and I think the directors and actors deserve a lot of credit for both the romantic scenes as well as the heart wrenching and raw ones.

The story depicts the beauty, love, suffering, and fleeting nature of gay love, youth, and life spent together, and the show's honest portrayal of it all will certainly leave its mark on the viewer. I started watching right after the 11th (special) episode finished airing and every night I would rewatch the past two episodes before starting a new one. Watching Minase and Haruki's journey is incredible and left me reflecting on so much after each episode and days after finishing the show. Overall, I cannot recommend the show enough and "Our Youth" definitely should not be missed.

The only criteria I didn't rate a perfect 10 out of 10 is Rewatch Value, because while I will absolutely will rewatch this show (probably throughout my life), it left me with intense bittersweet emotions. It's not an "easy" rewatch in my opinion, you will be sucked in to their story and if you're like me you will be stuck in your feelings again.

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Good to see the first Korean BL, but not the best by far

Another review said it perfectly: as the "first" Korean BL the short runtime and few number of episodes makes it clear that this show was really to test the waters for the fans.

Good news is that the episodes are mostly 11-12 minutes, so the show is super binge-able. The story is incredibly fanfic-y, which you will either love or hate, but I really did enjoy the premise and the story for the first half of the show. I actually thought Han Gi Chan's acting was better than Eui Soo's, which surprised me. Personally, I also loved the character of a yappy brat that teases Gook, but I know other reviewers disagree and found Gi Chan's character manipulative and annoying!

My main complaint is that the ending seems SO unnecessarily dramatic and does a disservice to the first half. I think they could've ended it with the same "happy" ending feeling without ridiculous angst and drama that came out of nowhere with absolutely no build up. Also, I think the production was not super polished in terms of make-up and things of that sort (who decided to make Eui Soo wear colored contacts??), and the actors definitely feel too old to be playing high schoolers, and should probably be playing college students. Lastly, the acting chemistry between the couple was pretty good (not great), but the kiss was SO bland compared to what Korean BL shows are doing nowadays, that it seems like they really didn't want to do it, which is a shame.

Overall, it's definitely not the best BL show (or even Korean BL show) that I've seen, but I do have to give it a lot of respect as the "first" that paved the way for all the ones that have aired since!

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