Honestly probably one of the best rom-coms I've ever watched because I genuinely feel like this drama encapsulates what a rom-com should be perfectly. Personally, I think rom-coms shouldn't be centred around a complex storyline with characters sewn up with dark secrets and yes, this drama didn't have the most mind-blowing storyline in the world but I guess that's the beauty of it. The entire focus of the story was the journey of their romance and it was predictable and simple and there were no side plots which overshadowed the main one. There was adequate character development which was beautifully portrayed by the acting and so it was always amusing to watch as the two had a lot of chemistry which is what really brought the whole story together. If you're just looking for a wholesome, hilarious rom-com to enjoy without much thinking needed, this is absolutely the perfect drama for you.

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The first maybe 4 episodes led me to think that this was going to be your typical romance highschool drama but after persevering through the first 4, the drama left the romance to become more of a side plot and the main focus shifted to the very friendship of the characters and the development and the maturing of them and I think that it's what we all end up experiencing when we're teenagers.
One of my favourite aspects is how every major character has some sort of a background that comes with them there's an entire spectrum of home lives shown through the screen which was fresh as dramas usually only explore the two main characters. Everyone had different interests, different talents, different aims and that's what made this drama so enjoyable. The development allowed you to properly emphasise with everyone and they began to feel more 3D than 2D.
When We Were Young also checked off mentioning exams which is probably one of my stranger and more niche checkboxes that I have when it comes to high-school genres but nonetheless, I think it's a key one. Most dramas usually downplay the effects exams have on students when in actual fact, these exams are the most important ones in the their entire highschool career so they arguably play a pretty major role in student's lives . It was interesting to see a variation of attitudes towards exams, some approaching them without any care, some taking them seriously, some completely getting battered by the pressure. The exploration even extended to the parents and how their attitudes to exams could be the catalyst to the absolute destruction of their child or the motivation.
Many people say that the ending is unsatisfactory or sad but I honestly beg to differ because I felt the ending portrayed the inevitable closure to everyone's highschool life well and rather than sad, I'd go for poignant.
Everyone's character was well acted and no one lost their colour from beginning till the end and it was realistic in the sense that it's not romance which drives us through teenage years, it's our friendships and yourself which you develop and improve as you go which gets you through it.

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