Our Beloved Summer (2021)

Superb drama about entering the adult world, full of sensitivity and emotion.

Story:
Reunion 10 years later, of 2 high school students who had filmed a documentary "the worst student, the best student". Afterwards, they dated for 5 years, and broke up painfully. The television crew wants to make a new documentary "what happened to them?".

Cast:
All the actors are excellent and the CL takes us into an emotional whirlwind. The chemistry between these two is palpable, amazing, natural.

Technical:
The production is dynamic and we don't get lost in useless scenes, although the narration is slow and delicate at times. This allows you to soak up the atmosphere of this drama little by little, all in sensitivity, in humanity.
The images are beautiful (the Korean directors and cameramen have really acquired a unique know-how on this point).
The OSTs are beautiful, sweet, moving.

Conclusion:
A superb moving drama about the difficulties of entering the adult world, full of sensitivity and emotion.

Leggi di Più

It is possible to have way too much of a good thing

There are a ton of reviews for this show, so I wasn’t going to add to them, but I feel frustrated enough to want to write one. I’ll try and make it short, in keeping with my critique!

I loved how this show started. Great characters, clever interweaving of flashbacks, beautiful unfolding of relationship etc etc. But as a writer I got really frustrated watching this. There is a natural arc for any story that you write and it has an appropriate length that does it justice. The perfect length states your case and leaves a clear impression in the viewer’s mind that is just enough for them to want to hold it in their hand and gaze at it a while longer, hopefully realising things for themselves, that lead them deeper. In my mind, this is the joy of a story. Not just what is told, but where it leads you afterwards.

However, in order to realise that goal, a writer needs to do two things:
1) have the message precise in their mind;
2) write only enough to illustrate it clearly.

Mostly, too much information is written and the job of editing is the delight of tightening and sharpening and chipping away until that message shines like a cut diamond. When you have cut sufficient away for the brilliance to emerge, then you have found the natural length of your story.

But dramas are commissioned and given a length: write a story that fills 16 episodes. What happens when you need to expand the story to fill the space allotted? Your diamond gets cut to fit the setting and instead of being sparkling and sharp, it becomes cloudy and dull. The writer tried to expand the beauty that was there and in the process went round and around and around the same material until it was trampled underfoot in the endless circularity that was all the middle episodes, by which time I was barely interested enough to follow it through to its inevitable conclusion.

If this had been an 8 or even a 10 episode drama, it could have rated at 8, no trouble. There was stuff that was good. The dialogue, the performances of the leads in particular, the sets, the cinematography, the drawings featured in the show... But sadly, it just has to be a flawed 6.5 for me.

What my rating means: 6+ Some aspects of it were OK but it had serious flaws. It will pass the time but you can find something better.

Leggi di Più

Go into it with certain expectations

I'm coming out of this drama conflicted over how I feel about it. From a slice-of-life perspective, it's fantastic. The characters are all very well thought-out, from their backgrounds and histories to their personalities and how they react to the world around them. I think Woong himself is the best example of this, introduced as the kid in school with the worst grades whose only ambition is to live comfortably. Over the course of the drama, we get a lot of depth into how he really felt during that point in his life as well as how he feels in the current day, and there are a lot of layers to his character that you wouldn't expect if you were only to see the first few episodes. Yeon Soo also has these characteristics, though her side of things didn't pull at me the same way Woong's did.

The story has a bright cast of side characters, too, who make the world feel very lively and lived-in, and they wholeheartedly make the drama better. Except... the unfortunate reality is that they're underutilized. Early on they feel like they might be important, but as the episodes go on they lose their significance. I can't really say that any of their stories are left unfinished, but none of them were particularly satisfying. Ji Woong is the best example. Early on, we're shown just how close he is to Woong, we see them growing up together and later on we see them leaning on one another. But further into the show, that starts to fade. As they pull more and more focus on the main couple, they leave him behind to deal with this small, out-of-nowhere plot with his mother. His mother is important to his character to a degree, sure, but that's all that his story amounts to in the end and that was really disappointing to see. Certain aspects (spoilers - if you watch it, you'll know) felt like they were just thrown in to find a way to end his conflict, and his romance with his coworker, which was hinted at and hinted at, was resolved very briefly out of nowhere. All of the couples but the main one were like that. We could have gotten so much more out of these characters than what we did.

That doesn't mean I hated the show. I liked it, I just didn't love it. The show shone its brightest during the original flashback scenes. All of the high school content and the original documentary was a lot of fun. Woong and Yeon Soo were lively and funny and charming, and it really felt like something special. I honestly wish the rest of the drama could have kept that feeling going, because it just became a bit generic once their adulthood started. And for a drama whose premise centred around a follow-up documentary to the one they starred in during their high school years, it didn't seem to matter all too much to the plot.

Our Beloved Summer does have some really heart-wrenching moments. The characters are very human and sympathetic, and it plays its strengths well. But it's not perfect, and it could have done better. A good example of its shortcomings is the plagiarism incident that happens early on in the drama. Another artist goes on television and implies that Woong has plagiarised him, but when comparing both artworks it doesn't really become apparent how the work was allegedly plagiarised, other than (I think - don't remember too clearly) them being drawings of the same (or similar if I'm remembering incorrectly) building. The thing about buildings is that if they're drawn at the same viewing angle, those drawings will look pretty similar. It's a bold claim and one that's taken very seriously in the art world, but I couldn't see the plagiarism myself because of that and thought, well, maybe they'll point out how it was plagiarised. But they didn't. They introduced the conflict and used it to push their plot along and show different facets of their characters, but they didn't care about the plagiarism itself. Naturally, Woong did not plagiarise. If anything, I believe that the other artist plagiarised Woong, but what bothered me was that there didn't seem to be a reason for this claim to be believed. Woong didn't address it and it faded from the story. Like a lot of other subplots. It came in, caused some trouble, and then vanished without any real resolution.

So, watch Our Beloved Summer. It's cute, and they care a lot about their characters. Well, about the main 2. Like cute couple scenes? Watch it. Like slice-of-life? Watch it. Don't like things feeling half-finished? Well, then maybe this one isn't for you.

Leggi di Più

one of my fav dramas so far

Everything about this drama is perfect so far. The acting is well done, the express the emotion perfectly. the story plot is simply but interesting enough to captivate viewers and pull them along for each episode, and even make views think about their own life and relationships. The beautiful cinematography makes it hard for viewers to look away, it help strengthens the mood and emotions in scenes, especially with the help of pathetic fallacy. Also looooovee the ost, v's voice is like a comforting hug after you feel the emotions portrayed in the drama. The only bad thing about this is having to wait every week, every episode makes me longing for the next. 10/10 would recommend this drama. only on ep 8 will alter when finished

Leggi di Più

Uma ode ao amor, ao amadurecimento e à solidão.

Our Beloved Summer me chamou atenção desde a primeira vez que li a sinopse. Não sei o porquê, afinal, não tinha nada demais. A história de um casal que gravou um documentário na adolescência, namorou e se separou em maus termos e, depois de anos, se reencontram para gravar uma continuação para esse documentário. Talvez eu só tenha achado divertido. Parecia uma boa premissa para um rom-com.

A primeira impressão não foi boa, não vou mentir. Um dos piores aspectos desse kdrama é a montagem frenética, com diversos cortes por cena. Parecia que o montador tinha alguma tremedeira na mão. Era exaustivo de acompanhar e prejudicava o ritmo. Felizmente, isso foi melhorando .

Um dos primeiros aspectos desse drama que me conquistou foi o fato dele não entregar tudo sobre os personagens e a história de modo imediato. Adotando o gênero slice of life, possui uma narrativa que se desenvolve progressivamente a cada episódio, desenrolando camadas e camadas dos personagens, como se fossem peças de um quebra-cabeças. Suas atitudes, características e motivações são desvendadas ao poucos através de uma quebra (ou até ouso chamar de uma brincadeira) na temporalidade da narrativa. Do mesmo jeito que a montagem tem o pior aspecto do drama, ela também tem o seu maior trunfo. Há constantes idas e vindas, do presente ao passado (e detalhe pra mudanças do aspect ratio toda vez que isso acontecia) e repetição de algumas cenas, mas de modo que sempre agregava novas informações e pontos de vista. Então o ritmo desgastante dos cortes frenéticos das cenas individuais, se abrandava na construção da narrativa dentro do episódio como um todo.

O roteiro é muito bem escrito, principalmente por ser sensível ao retratar os sentimentos e crescimentos de seus personagens que, por sua vez, são bem construídos e humanizados, com desenvolvimento bastante naturalista. É sobre como o amor perdura, mas ele não é suficiente se não sabemos lidar com as nossas próprias barreiras. Yeon-su é uma garota inteligente e determinada que sempre soube o caminho que queria traçar em sua vida e lutou para isso. Vinda de uma família carente e tendo lidar com problemas financeiros, ela sempre pôs a cara a tapa para proteger sua vó e melhorar a situação delas. Sua arrogância mascara sua baixa autoestima. Ela não consegue manter relações por não se julgar merecedora delas e o orgulho a impede de pedir ajuda. Isso destruiu seu relacionamento com Choi-ung, que carrega um insuperável trauma de infância que o faz temer o abandono. Ele não tem grandes objetivos na vida e não sabe expressar suas emoções. Mesmo vivendo da arte, seu trauma o impede de usá-la como modo de expressão; assim, suas obras não tem vida. Ele quer se encontrar, mas não quer ir longe, pois tem medo de ficar sozinho. Ji-ung sonha com um vida que não é sua. Sem pai e com uma mãe displicente, ele almeja em Choi-ung aquilo que não tem. Em compensação, Choi-ung oferece uma amizade sem tamanho. É uma mistura de ressentimento com gratidão. NJ sempre viveu numa bolhada moldada para ela, com poucas interferências externas. Com a vida escancarada na mídia, vive à base do amor e do ódio do público que só enxerga a celebridade e não o ser humano.

São pessoas solitárias. Yeon-su está presa em seus sentimentos de auto-sabotagem e isolamento; Choi-ung está preso no seu trauma e em não conseguir alcançar as expectativas que se espera dele; Ji-ung clama por amor e não é correspondido (romanticamente e maternalmente); NJ está presa dentro da própria fama: ninguém entra, ninguém sai. Elas tem a solidão presas em si e o drama mostra como elas conseguem, aos poucos, quebrar as barreiras as quais estão presas.

Uma das melhores características do roteiro e direção é na construção desse amadurecimento dos personagens através de suas ações. Vi-me esperando diálogos expositivos que esclarecem os conflitos. Estava esperando A conversa do casal protagonista para que finalmente ficassem juntos. Não veio, mas veio coisa melhor. Yeon-su demonstrando sua dor para Choi-ung e se dando conta de uma pessoa que sempre esteve ao seu lado: Sol-i. Choi-ung desistindo de sua carreira para aprimorar sua visão e encarando seu pai que o abandonou. O casal até conversa, mas é pra chegar na conclusão: suas diferenças não o manterão separados; com a barreiras derrubadas, o amor perdura.

Ji-ung persiste num amor não retribuído do mesmo jeito que persistiu pela atenção de sua mãe. Ele prefere sofrer em silêncio do que enfrentar o que sente. Ele somente supera devido à importância de sua amizade com Choi-ung e pelo acaso do destino: gravar um documentário com sua mãe. Aquele que sempre esteve atrás da câmeras, enxergando e desvendando sentimentos alheios, finalmente teve a sua vez de se expressar. NJ começa a criar suas próprias regras para sobreviver no mundo o qual cresceu em vez de se submeter aos outros. Ela aceita seus sentimentos, assim como aceita a rejeição deles. E tá tudo bem! Ela se permitiu sentir e sair da bolha sufocante a qual vivia.

Foi uma jornada muito bonita de acompanhar, feita de maneira coesa e coerente. Fomos conhecendo e crescendo junto com os personagens. Além disso, cada episódio trouxe o título de um filme popular que transmitia a ideia que o episódio queria passar, de modo direto ou indireto, sendo uma diversão extra procurar qual era o filme da semana e sua conexão ao drama.

É um kdrama que extravasa sentimentos com uma sensibilidade sem limites.

Leggi di Più

OverHyped

Had gr8 potential but iam disappointed and also the female lead is annoying and often selfish. She loves then leaves the male lead with no explanations. This is not love. Leaving someone to pick up the pieces after your breakup is immature and doesnt let the other person get closure. If the roles were reversed, we would be calling the person toxic. Unfortunately, women seem to get away with a lot more selfishness in dramas. Netflix has great production, music, locations but somehow loses out on empathatic characters. The women are portrayed as get-up-and-leave kinds in the name of female emancipation and freedom. I just dont get it. Had Dropped the drama after 12, felt its draggy . Drama could have finished in 10 or 12epi .She seems to be stuck, acting out like a high schooler.

Leggi di Più

TOXIC AT ITS MOST

Many people are going to disagree with me but this show is SO overrated just because the casts are famous people. If this show were to casts unknown actors and actresses it wont go far.

First of, i hated the FL. Her character and personality in thr drama was too much for me. But then again, this is only my personal opinion. I read the review and ALMOST ALL the reviews said this was a good drama but when i watched it, i felt like i was watching a totally different drama. The FL annoyed me in every single episodes and their relationship, was HIGHKEY toxic. She was too dominant was him and he, was weak.

They kept breaking up OVER SMALL THINGS and then make up. If that aint red flag i don’t know what is. Overall, i did not enjoy this drama. Don’t get me wrong, i love both actors but i just did not see what the hybe is about.

Leggi di Più

Just Beautiful

Our Beloved Summer was one of the first K-Dramas I ever watched, I didn’t know anything about the actors or story at the time, so I didn’t have any set expectations when I started. And it remains one of my favorite comfort K-Dramas, even with the twenty I’ve watched since.

Opinions about this show seem to be quite polarized, and I’m glad I watched it before reading all the negative reviews that might’ve scared me off. People love it or hate it, and I’m certainly one of the former.

The story spans over quite a bit of time and I thoroughly enjoyed both the flashback sections of the show and what's happening in modern day. The structure allowed for some beautiful parallel scenes too.

While I love this show, I do understand why some people don’t, it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. The story and relationship progression are both slow, so if you hate slow dramas, you’re most likely not going to like this one. But even with the slow progression, I was never bored.

Our main couple, Choi Ung (played by Choi Woo-Shik) and Kook Yeon-Soo (played by Kim Da-mi) were both perfectly cast. They made both hilarious rivals in the beginning and an awkwardly sweet couple later on. I thoroughly enjoyed all of their different dynamics.

I’ve seen several people bashing Yeon-Soo as a character, and while I will say initially, I didn’t find her very likeable, as the story progressed and her character developed, she won me over. I did like Ung from the beginning though, but as fellow sleep deprived artist I may be a little biased.

Honestly, I’m not usually a fan of second chance romances but this one got me. Through swapping between the current day and flashbacks of when the characters were previously together, it becomes quite clear why they didn’t initially work. But unlike many second chance romances, this one is able to take the reasons they didn’t work then and through a ton of character development, show why they do now. And they do work beautifully.

While much of the character development is shown through the lenes of a relationship, much of it is deeply individual. Ung and Yeon-Soo go from somewhat miserable individuals, both wallowing in their struggles, to two people who are able to make the best of their lives. And it was done beautifully.

Besides our main couple, there is a side romance with their friends, I found this to be the least interesting part of the show, ultimately though, it didn’t dampen my overall enjoyment.

I don’t fully know how to describe the overall tone, but mellow might be a good word.
Everything that I liked about the show was amplified by the OST. There isn’t a single miss in the soundtrack. The music helped set the mood phenomenally, and I’ve listened to it so many times that four of my top five most listened to songs in 2023 were from this soundtrack. It’s without a doubt my favorite K-Drama OST ever.

There’s so much more I could talk about in this review that I loved, from all the side characters to the family dynamics and beautiful cinematography, but this review is already long enough. So, I’ll leave it here.

Our Beloved Summer is a beautifully thought-provoking show, that made me laugh, cry, and reevaluate my life. Go give it a shot.

Leggi di Più

É lindo!!

Tem uma bela fotografia, uma ost maravilhosa e a atuação nota mil.

O drama mostrou os desequilíbrios no relacionamento, a forma como a falta de comunicação deixa feridas e também como o amor pode durar.

Yeon Su e Choi Ung eram colegas na escola e gravaram um documentário juntos sobre o melhor e o pior aluno, acontece que eles brigavam igual cão e gato porque ela quer focar e está sempre estudando enquanto ele está sempre de boas, sem ligar muito para as coisas. Mas com o decorrer das gravações ambos começam a ficar mais próximos e acaba nascendo um sentimento e consequentemente acabam namorando.

Agora Yeon Su trabalha num escritório e o Ung se tornou um desenhista(mas ninguém sabe sua identidade), eles já não estão mais juntos, ela terminou sem nem explicar o porquê, mas devido ao trabalho eles acabam se reencontrando e depois por causa de reviravoltas do destino estão novamente gravando uma nova temporada do documentário o que não foi nada fácil já que agora eles se "odiavam" ( no fundo a gente via o amor deles )

É um drama nada inovador, mas que deixa um quentinho no coração, a química deles me deixou ligada na história, as cenas de passado e presente sendo intercaladas ajudou a entender todas as alfinetadas que eles trocavam.

Gostei demais de acompanhar "Our Beloved Summer", foi bom ver o desenvolvimento da relação deles

Leggi di Più

green flag

tbh... i've watched this drama many times but somehow i don't get bored while watching it, i'm sure buddy. i really like the acting of both of them, the main character Choi Wooshik (Choi Ung) and the main actress Kim Dami (Kook Yeon Soo). they are both very cool in acting, i won't lie about that, this drama is very inspiring for couples who have fallen out of love but both of them still have great love, i as a man really want traits and personality like the main character Choi Ung, he is like an angel for her beloved partner, i also study what he does, what Choi Ung does in this drama, and yea... as you know, the character Choi Ung in this drama is highly coveted by many women out there, they call it the word "green flag" LMAO.

Leggi di Più