This review may contain spoilers
Lack of development and communication of the characters were the major flaws of this drama
Record of Youth debuted with great potential to be an incredible drama. The cast and the story, at first, captivated me a lot, however throughout the episodes I started to have the feeling that the story was not developing. The focus of the drama was the growth of the main characters, both personally and professionally, however the story revolved around only Hye Joon (Park Bogum), the other main characters of the plot were erased and we viewers, practically not we saw their development.
Jung Ha (Park Sodam) when it appeared was poorly developed and all the plots that the story opened for her character to be developed, ended up not gaining much focus and worsened the development of the character. I really wanted to see a little more about the construction of her salon and the solutions to the problems she had with her parents, but unfortunately, almost no screen time was given to her plot, sometimes I had the feeling that her only role in drama was to be the love interest of Hye Joon and Hae Hyo, thus creating a love triangle for the story.
Talking about Hae Hyo (Byeon Woo Seok), he, for me, was always a complex character, since the beginning of the story I wanted to know how he would react when Hye Joon started to be the focus of attention, and the story at that point it surprised me, because it didn’t turn him into the envious character who wants to take down the protagonist, in fact she showed a real character that had reactions that all of us in his place could have, but unfortunately the story didn’t develop much of his character’s story either. end we ended up not seeing his development very well after he found out that his career was practically bought by his mother, i found his end too open and it bothered me that the story didn't show how he was after the time jump.
About Hye Joon's family nucleus: For me this was the nucleus that best developed within this drama. At first I thought his father was extremely toxic, but throughout the episodes I got to understand him a little more and I liked the way he has evolved throughout history. Hye Joon's grandfather was also a great character in this drama, I loved the evolution of his relationship with his son and I admit that I was very moved by their final scene in the drama.
I thought the end of the story was coherent and I preferred to see them become friends a thousand times, their relationship was very beautiful, but from the beginning I thought that they behave more like friends than boyfriends. Their open ending was coherent and it is up to the viewer to think about whether they stayed together or remained friends.
The performances in this drama were very good, but unfortunately the characters and the story prevented the actors from shining even more in their roles. The drama ost is good, but it is forgettable.
Jung Ha (Park Sodam) when it appeared was poorly developed and all the plots that the story opened for her character to be developed, ended up not gaining much focus and worsened the development of the character. I really wanted to see a little more about the construction of her salon and the solutions to the problems she had with her parents, but unfortunately, almost no screen time was given to her plot, sometimes I had the feeling that her only role in drama was to be the love interest of Hye Joon and Hae Hyo, thus creating a love triangle for the story.
Talking about Hae Hyo (Byeon Woo Seok), he, for me, was always a complex character, since the beginning of the story I wanted to know how he would react when Hye Joon started to be the focus of attention, and the story at that point it surprised me, because it didn’t turn him into the envious character who wants to take down the protagonist, in fact she showed a real character that had reactions that all of us in his place could have, but unfortunately the story didn’t develop much of his character’s story either. end we ended up not seeing his development very well after he found out that his career was practically bought by his mother, i found his end too open and it bothered me that the story didn't show how he was after the time jump.
About Hye Joon's family nucleus: For me this was the nucleus that best developed within this drama. At first I thought his father was extremely toxic, but throughout the episodes I got to understand him a little more and I liked the way he has evolved throughout history. Hye Joon's grandfather was also a great character in this drama, I loved the evolution of his relationship with his son and I admit that I was very moved by their final scene in the drama.
I thought the end of the story was coherent and I preferred to see them become friends a thousand times, their relationship was very beautiful, but from the beginning I thought that they behave more like friends than boyfriends. Their open ending was coherent and it is up to the viewer to think about whether they stayed together or remained friends.
The performances in this drama were very good, but unfortunately the characters and the story prevented the actors from shining even more in their roles. The drama ost is good, but it is forgettable.
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