At a Distance, Spring Is Green

Great story to tell, bad execution

⭐⭐⭐
I had quite a few problems with this show while I was watching and I almost dropped it at one point.
(There might be spoilers).
Here are my main points:

THE STORY (4.5⭐)
At the start, everything seemed to be set up perfectly. The first episode was very engaging, a rich kid goes to an university and everybody knows him, takes photos of him and tries to be friends with him for his money, but he only wants to get to know the quiet kid who ignores him and frowns at him for "being the school's ATM". As the story goes on, we learn that the rich kid (Yeojun) is very insecure (due to something that happened to him during his childhood) and doesn't have any real friends, that's why he resorts to buying his way into people's social groups and friend groups. The thought of someone not being interested in his money for once intrigues him and he tries to get the guy(Soohyun)'s attention in every way he can and in the process he meets another candidate for his group of "real friends" - a senior student girl named Sobin. All three's relationships with each other grow supposedly stronger as the episodes go on - but that's the first problem, they just don't "grow".
Apart from Yeojun and Soohyun's slow, but steady progress from hating each other to being each other's only shoulder to lean on, to being inseparable - every other relationship in this kdrama is absolute garbage.
Sobin and Yeojun's romance feels awkward and forced. Maybe it's the actress' sub par performance, but you just don't see much emotion between the two and you really just can't fall for the obvious lie that this relationship is anything but trash.
The love triangle that was attempted between Yeojun, Sobin and the other guy, who was so underdeveloped as a character that I can't even remember his name was a complete waste of time and an utter disappointment.
The romance between Miju and Soohyun felt unreal and more like a little girl crushing on the ice creme guy, just because he gave her an extra napkin. Like... NO. The set up for the relationship was good, but the execution... ohhhh brother.
Another ick I had with the story was the sudden abandonment of the original idea of Yeojun being a weirdo who only knows how to spend money and nothing about being friends with someone to him being a super nice guy who knows exactly how to act in every situaton. I understand that it was supposed to be character development, but it didn't feel real, nor did it feel good to watch. I felt like I wasted my time on a show that seemed to be promising, but got ruined by the writers' bipolar disorder and storyline that changes with the weather. The serious moments were sacrificed in favor of bad "comedic moments".
Miju, Sobin, taekwondo girl and funny guy were horribly developed as characters every time I saw them on screen I just felt like skipping the scene entirely, because I knew it was going to be pointless dialogue that wasn't going to affect any part of the main story. The struggles of the main character were pushed away in favor of these interactions between the irrelevant side characters. A lot of, what was supposed to serious, moments were pushed aside and never spoken of again like they didn't happen. It felt like I was watching Naruto filler.

THE ACTING (6.5⭐)
1. The main character, Yeo Yeojun, played by Park Jihoon.
The main actor was a great pick though, regardless of the story's shortcomings, watching Park Jihoon do his absolute very best throughout the entire show with what he was given was immensely satisfying. The emotion felt raw and unfiltered, the little actions the actor made added so much to the character and I truly believe that he did stunningly on account of the background that is the plot for most of the show ( burning trash). I had deeply touched by his performance in Weak Hero Class 1, which was the reason I watched this particular drama in the first place.

2. The female lead, Kim Sobin, played by Kang Minah.
Maybe it was just the poorly written character, but I found this actress to be very unlikable for no reason. I believe that in contrast to Park Jihoon who added quite a lot to a one dimensional character, Kang Minah couldn't quite add anything to her portrayal of Kim Sobin. The performance felt lack luster and like the actress only did the minimum when it came to acting. The emotion just wasn't there. The character herself is supposed to be quite awkward and shy, but Kang Minah gave more of an impression that Sobin was supposed to be slow and mentally retarded (I don't believe in using euphemisms to soften a word's meaning and I also believe that I am using the correct word to portray my own observation).

3. The other male lead, Nam Soohyun, played by Bae Inhyuk.
The character was one dimensional and just like Kang Minah, it felt like the actor didn't go above the minimum of acting necessary for the role. I really don't have much to say about the actor himself, because... there is just nothing to say, neither good nor bad. The performance was ok, but it was just that - ok. Nothing more, nothing less. It stood out with absolutely nothing.

4. Supporting roles, Kwon Eunbin as Wang Youngran, Choi Jungwoo as Hong Chanki and Woo Davi as Gong Miju.
Starting of with the first actress on the list, Kwon Eunbin, who played the role of Wang Youngran - the character wasn't special at all, although at the end the plot tries to shove her and Gong Miju in your face with a pointless love triangle between them and Nam Soohyun. Her character was used as simply a comedic element for the most part, so I can't really say much about the actress herself. It almost teh exact same for Woo Davi, her character was also quite sidelined for most of the show and I can't really just her that much, but I did like her quite a bit. Hong Chanki was a comic relief character from the start and although he didn't have much screen time, the actor did pretty well with what he was given.

THE MUSIC (7.0 ⭐)
The songs were bangers, I have a particular one stuck in my head right now and I plan on putting it on loop after I write this.

THE REWATCH VALUE AND OVERALL
For me, rewatch value is 2.5 ⭐, because this show just isn't anything special. It's fun to watch if you have nothing else to do, but I just would recommend you watch it again after you watched it all. It will probably be very boring.
Overall, I'd give this kdrama a 5.0/10 ⭐

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Friendship and relationship are equally important!!!

This drama was a descent drama. Both friendship and relationship can be managed properly.. This message was beautifully conveyed in the drama. Mistakes will be done by everybody but reflecting upon it and correcting yourself is very much important. Speak out and clear the misunderstanding then and there rather than hating the person not knowing why they did so ...... The ost were very good. Together everything can be achieved. Somewhere I felt something was missing, not all character's fast was shown so I had question mark at some times. It would have been even better if a glimpse were shown. Overall a good drama.

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Sweet, but...

This was a pretty sweet campus drama, though I don't think it ever managed to hit me as deeply as it wanted to despite covering some pretty heavy topics.

The pacing is a little slow at the start, which made it very frustrating for me because it felt like all the non-main characters were downright horrible all the time. I ended up not really liking how the show handled their arcs and how they interacted with the main leads, but perhaps I'm just much less forgiving of a person.

I didn't really enjoy the romance very much either. I like their arcs individually but never really bought into them liking each other or being in a deeper relationship; the FL felt really disconnected from the ML's arc the entire time.

There's also one side female character I found to be pretty unnecessary.

Overall, the acting is passable but kind of awkward at times; you can basically tell it's a webtoon adaptation. A nice show but one that didn't quite hit the right beats for me.

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l didn't hate it and might even rewatch it occasionally, skipping a few parts.

I've been curious about this one for some time now. It does touch on themes that are close to my heart. I love the youth and life genres. It supposedly had friendship as a main topic. And after seeing Park Ji Hoon's stellar acting in Weak Hero, I was on top of that curious to see him in other roles. Therefore after some thinking I was finally convinced to watch this show. I haven't read the webtoon nor am I planning to, so this review is solely based on the drama.

The premise, the themes, the main characters and the finale, as well as the acting, are what made me watch it until the end and not think that this was a total waste of time. There are some memorable and very emotional scenes. Other than that, I can't say it was spectacular. The plot is wonky, it relies a lot on plot conveniences, clichés, nothing is really subtle at all, the pacing is a bit weird, it's a bit boring sometimes (it's a slice-of-life, sure but still) and I can't say I was very entertained all along. I was tempted to skip ahead more than once (and I did end up skipping some seconds and minutes here and there, particularly episode 7 and onward). I also didn't like the OST. To be more precise, I do not like having a piece, or worse : a song with lyrics, in almost every scene. It's too overstimulating. I prefer minimalistic OSTs and silence. Here it seemed to me there was barely any silence ever.

So what is good ?

The overarching themes and lessons are.

Yeo Joon is one of the best things in this story in terms of psychological complexity. He's the kind of characters I love in general. He looks weak and fragile and he does cry easily for a guy but he's actually pretty tough. What he went through makes his behaviour understandable, that's a great point as it's not an easy thing to write. Ji Hoon's acting obviously brings a lot. But his character 'grows' too easily, too fast in my opinion. I was happy seeing him happy - but maybe it was too hopeful for me ? I prefer realism. He's endured so much and I think his character flaws needed to take more precedence than that, create more inner and outer conflicts. Also, the plot convenience of him having forgotten/mixed up his memories and suddenly remembering correctly and everything just resolved like this... I think it was disappointing, underwhelming and badly written. His backstory is what was most intriguing to me and this was very quickly dealt with.

Kim So Bin, as much as I love Kang Min Ah and think she did a beautiful job here with what she was given, is pretty much the typical lost, shy, kindhearted and cute damsel in emotional distress without much more to it. While she seemed to be so important in the beginning, and the romance took a lot of the available space for a few episodes, she then kind of blends into the background at some point and just becomes Joon's girlfriend with no life of her own. Her trauma, her mother, her story, her own interests and other non-romantic relationships do not really matter any longer. She does have some nice moments with her roommates but their bond primarily resolves around crying about their individual love pains and it just doesn't interest me that much. I admit I was hoping for some cool girls friendship when I saw she was going to live at a dorm with 2 other girls but got almost nothing. I do not dislike her character but she's simply too linear. Her only flaw is having some abandonment trauma and anxiety and being too nice, but that's not how good character flaws work. To add to that, I think the way her trauma was dealt with was also fairly unoriginal. And when she met with her mother and simply decided never to see her again and after some explaining this was over - it seemed lazy to be honest.

Nam Soo Hyun is the character that made me cry the most, seeing him struggle so hard to get by, and I think he was a very interesting and flawed guy with a great development. I actually like that he was the most reticent to change and I like the fact that, even though he had two potential love interests and he was apparently interested in one of the girls, he chose not to conclude with any of them as he was still too unconfident in himself until the end. I think it was realistic, interesting and relatively well done. People don't change just like that, as he said rightly. His slowly growing brotherhood with Joon was also very moving. I think it was pretty nicely done considering their unusual personalities and they do end up looking like close brothers, which was pleasant. Joon really looked like this annoying and clingy but cute little brother that just desperately needed the help and support Soo Hyun could provide, while Joon was his door to learning to be more laid-back and emotionally honest with himself and others.

However, I think the writer didn't rightly balance romance/friendship over the course of the story and the ending was a bit weird in this regard (their final group project was basically all about the MLs friendship even though the romance and romantic love in general was so important in like 60% of the show). The romance between So Bin and Joon, while cute and all that, didn't seem very logical to me the way it was done. I don't really understand why she suddenly was in love with Joon. He manipulated her and used her emotional fragility to make her rely on him. She shouldn't have just accepted that so easily. I'm also uncertain about the need for a romance altogether. It made sense that Joon would need both friendship and romance in his life to grow as he was desperate for any kind of love he could find but - and I'm really trying to see it without my preference for friendships bias - I think the romance aspect should have been a minor/side thing instead of trying to take the main spot only to be relegated to the backseat in the end. The friendship part of it all between the 3 should have been the foundation and the meat (and it does go back to this in the finale anyway), while the romance should have been something that would have slowly developed along the way to blossom towards the ending, less flamboyantly. So yeah, I'm not sure if I'm the best person to judge a romance but I'll just say I wasn't really convinced. I've seen better, less forced ones.

It's also too bad the secondary girls weren't much more as characters than love interests for Soo Hyun. Young Ran was probably the most well-developed of the two though and I loved her a lot. It's a shame Mi Joo just disappeared. Professor Park is another secondary character that I really liked, he was so funny with his obsession for his students to love him and eat with him and his pure joy whenever any of them would talk to him and ask for his help... Professor Song on the other hand was inconsistently written and dislikeable all along. I constantly wondered if I had missed something because I never understood why she acted the way she did.

And - a thing I REALLY appreciated, is the total absence of love triangle between the 3 leads. Very nice and refreshing.

I think this drama contains good ideas and is quite a fun watch. It does drag and has its flaws and is definitely not entirely to my tastes. But I'm very picky and have weird preferences. If you love romantic dramas, do not care too much about plot or writing quality, and also like friendship and coming of age stories in general, and don't mind themes of domestic and child abuse, there's no real reason you wouldn't enjoy this one.

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Dropped halfway through the series. I'm struggling with this drama, not because it isn't good. But I have never wanted to take so many knives out of my cupboard because of so many characters. Typical dramas have one or 2 hateful characters (usually a spiteful mother-in-law or an annoying SFL). But this!!!!! I wanted to smash the heads of Yeo Joon's so-called-friends who accuse others of leeching when it fact they are the worst ones do so. If there is an award for the worst family, Yeo Joon's parents take the cake. (Maybe tied with the psychotic mother in IOTBO).
And all those girls who are just jelly and abusive toward So Bin because Yeo Joon didn't choose them should just go to hell. Even though they are kids, those who made fun of So Bin for not having a mother are just plain mean. The professor who pilfers her student's work without crediting them, as if it was her privilege shouldn't be teaching. It's like they put every scumbag in one drama and it is making my blood boil!!!!

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I love it!

I'm not really sure why the ratings are lower thank a 8.5 but this drama is really good. There are some clichés here and there but as far as I can tell this drama is really good. One of the few coming of age dramas that focuses on the stories of the characters rather than romance. The three main leads are different in their own way and really make the plot interesting. It's a good drama to watch as it's something most people can relate to. Having a hard time with school, being poor, or being rich and not knowing how to fit in without allowing others to use you for your money. Any one in school can easily relate to this and older people can look back on their youth and reminisce on how things used to be.

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incomparável!

Um drama incrível, e como disse, incomparável!
de verdade, que experiência incrível que eu tive assistindo esse drama, eu não esperava muito de começo, mas já pode ir pra lista dos melhores que eu já assisti sem dúvida alguma. me fez chorar, me fez rir... a maneira como eu senti essas emoções assistindo esse drama parece que foram mágicas, eu nem sei explicar! nos trás vários sentimentos, nos mostra várias realidades, como: família, amizades, dificuldades da vida.. etc. e a atuação de cada um dos personagens é ótima! me choquei muito como eles conseguiram focar na história deles sem parecer muito confuso para nós telespectadores.

At a distance spring is green é a definição de drama 10/10

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onverwachte vriendschap ?? traumaverwerking

Ik zal er niet omheen draaien: de vriendschap die opbloeide tussen Yeojoon en Soohyun was zo mooi om te zien en een van de hoofdredenen om verder te blijven kijken, van hoe ze tegenover elkaar opwarmden en de eerste glimlach tot kameraden die elkaar steunden met elkaars trauma's en moeilijkheden. Woordkeuzes, subtiele details waren aspecten die de relatie tussen deze twee verder samensmeltten.

Ook de relatie tussen Yeojoon en Sobin werd rustig maar solide opgebouwd, wederom met een warme band, maar ook elkaars grenzen respecteren en elkaar steunen op moeilijke momenten. Props to de schrijvers dat ze niet de usual breakup vlak voor de laatste aflevering als plottwist gebruikten om de serie te verlengen, maar een gezonde, stabiele band portretteerden.

Tot slot zonder te veel te spoilen: Yeojoon en zn broer. that's it.

*tw: huiselijk geweld

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Me gusta mucho ver dramas que tocan temas fuertes como este que habla sobre la mochila de problemas que todos llevamos, algunos tienen más cargas que otros pero todos tenemos problemas que queremos dejar en el pasado o que nos siguen atormentando en el presente.
Los 3 actores principales me encantaron porque expresaron a al perfección todos los problemas que sus personajes cargaban, ademas de que a medida que la historia avanzan ellos empiezan a poder expresarlos, confiar y no dejar que estos afecten negativamente sus vidas. Mi único problema es con soo hyun que no se quedo con ninguna de las 2 chicas que lo pretendían pero esto es algo muy personal y que no afecta en nada a la historia.
En general es un muy buen drama donde los personajes encuentran el apoyo en relaciones humanas para sanar.

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