Youth Report (2020)

One sentence review

Record of youth = How you felt with game of throne series!
Writing more because MDL did not allow me to post only the above sentence.
Please feel free to ignore the below sentences haha

Starts off great and half way through you are thinking what the hell, why are they doing this and then at the end you will feel like why did they waste such beautiful cast on such crappy writing.
I was so excited and looking forward to this series and in the beginning I couldn't wait for the next episode and was cursing myself as to why I started watching on-air series (which I never do). Mid-way I was like okay, there are so many different directions this show can go so I was hopefully that show might redeem but then yeah.. IT DID NOT

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An honest spoiler-free viewpoint; Watch the show if you are a Bogum fan

I was anticipating the arrival of this drama and I did have expectations which this drama upheld until its first half.

The idea of showcasing the 'youth' was nowhere followed as the focus was diverted into multiple sub plots which do not end in a neat format and feel pointless as the show ends. They also do not add to the interest of the viewer.
The villains lack motivation and are present just to add distress and unnecessary tension in the male lead, Hye-Jun's life. They frustrated me more than I can say and also made me want to drop the show due to massive amount of screen time they got for creating pointless drama

The poster is very misleading- It is not a drama centering the 3 leads but it primarily focuses on Bogum's Hye-jun. The entire show is focused on the story of his family ( special shoutout to HJ's brother who ended up being one of my motivating factors to continue!) along with Hae Hyo's mother who seems to have more screen time than HH himself. The Female lead, Jeong-ha is barely given enough screen time to be called a lead. The character writing for HJ and JH was extremely poor and they had no development till the end of the drama.

The one character that garnered my interest was Hae Hyo. I was keen on knowing how his journey unfolds but the poor writing of the plot as a whole does not allow us to see his character grow or for us to see how his journey finally concludes.

This was my first drama by Bogum and so I was excited to see him in action and I will go forward to say that he did not disappoint. Park So Dam was great in the acting department as expected but the surprise package for me was Byeon Woo Seok. The entire cast acted really well and that was one of the sole reasons i kept going.

The OST of the drama was excellent and if the writing of the show was better it could have elevated the drama even more.

To conclude, the drama has a strong start but loses its essence in the middle and goes downhill from there. If you are a fan of Park Bogum I would recommend watching the show as he is the primary focus of it and does his best with the little that he has.

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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.

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A disappointment altogether :(

Ok I have to say that I started this drama with high hopes, I mean, look at the cast (and I'm a huge fan of Park So Dam), but boy do I regret wasting my time on this one.

I was expecting a high paced drama, full of fashion, intrigue and of course, romance. If that's what you are looking for, don't waste your time like me, this drama is dull.

You get a lot, I mean a LOT of family drama vibes with this one, and it's actually cute, but not entertaining enough to cary the whole drama (sometimes you don't care about the main leads family life outside their interactions with the leads) and it's not the premise that brought you in.

The main leads did not have chemistry (their bickering is not sexy or smart, they just look like an old couple that is past their passionate times in their relationship) and that shows, because they are almost never together (and the PDA is scarce).

They completely forgot the FL, I mean, she had passion, a career and dreams and a mysterious background, and all of this kind of get in the backseat and is not properly dealt with.

The storytelling way of the drama is also boring, they kind of introduce you the conclusion of a situation and then spend the hole next episode, retelling EVERY SINGLE UNIMPORTANT DETAIL, instead of glossing over with the juicy bits and moving on with the next plot.

I felt like I was watching a drama with no real plot, and the person presenting the story to me thought I was too dumb to pick up the details without them being overly explained in a very fastidious way. It feels like they tried to put a lot characters and ended up not developing any of them, and that's truly a waste of talented actors.

Well, it was a waste of time (for me) so save yours and go watch something more exciting.

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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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