My type of drama
I really love this drama. It's heartwarming and fun to watch. I don't know but I really have a thing with seeing two characters with a past and suddenly meeting again and sparkling their feelings which never really ended. I loved each and every character here. Gook Yeon Su was a character I can relate to in some way. She's seen as a strong, nonchalant, person but she's actually in pain and has a lot of sadness inside. Choi Ung on the other hand, was nice to see as he looks clueless, slow-witted, but definitely warm to people around him. I love how their love for each other bloomed after letting out their thoughts and emotions which were once untold. It makes me think that this kind of situation, actually happens in real life where a relationship falls apart because of misunderstanding and not being open to one another. I love how they lowkey care for each other even when they already broke up. I think they were the cutest! Can't get enough of them. The side characters were also fun to watch. Kim Ji Ung was not your toxic second lead who forces his way to the FL's heart. Rather, it was more realistic of them to focus his attention to his current situation; his loneliness and emptiness. I think it was a bit frustrating to watch that almost everyone has a sad story with them, but also, quite interesting and not over done. I think everyone was well written, with depth, interesting, and worth your time. I cried a couple of times and was feeling all emotional because this drama was well done. The reason why I'm not giving it a full rating because I admit, sometimes, I also felt like it was too sad for me as almost every character feels lonely and sad in the drama. But that's it! Setting that aside, I love everything about this drama. The cinematography, OSTs (try not to cry while they play challenge), plot, script, and the characters. It was an overall great watch to me. Might need to rewatch this in the future. Highly recommended.Was this review helpful to you?
Its like a soft summer breeze
i suggest you to watch all episodes without much gap, so that you will get that feel, Feles like a nice realstic story line , there no bad characters or bad people in the drama, kind of pure love story, from high school to adulthood.Watching the drama feels like , spending time in nature,like i told like a cool summer breeze.
But the last episodes are good, but kind of felt like, little bit boring, i really felt sorry for the NJ character, i heard many fans supported a different story line, Korean dramas never stop doing these triangle love stories, it hurts when all the characters are good ones like in this drama
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Unlikable characters
The female lead was awful to everyone except her grandmother. She was always about herself and her feelings. She never matured at all from her younger high school self. I really really wanted the male lead to kick her to the curb for the second female lead(the only character that was likeable). Her extreme selfishness never ended throughout the entire show, never once doing anything for the benefit of the male lead. She's one of the least likable female leads in a k drama ever.The male lead was a better character than the female lead, but not by much. Immature, unable to like anyone else except the intolerable female lead. I would've enjoyed this a lot more if he wasn't such a SIMP and went out with the Sfl. Sfl was prettier, nicer, more caring, and a way better personality. I don't know a man in real life who would choose the female lead over her.
The worst most despicable character was the second male lead. He deserved to be treated like the scum he was and have his ass kicked repeatedly by everyone.
The last third of the show was almost unwatchable.
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This review may contain spoilers
A lil talking and trust is what it takes to make that Summer “Beloved”.
This review contains very little spoilers and is written in rather uncomplicated language.So Let's Begin........
What could've been just a bunch of rather heartwrenching and traumatic memories for the Leads, turned out to be the most Beloved and Cherrished times of their Lives.
This show began at our Leads meeting again after 5 years since their break-up cuz of a Viral Documentary that they shot when they were in high school 10 years ago and how they ended up being together again after dating for 5 years since high school to breaking-up and finally understanding what Love and Life is.
How it just takes a lil more effort to look at things from a slightly different angle.
Life gave them a chance not to undo the past but to learn from the mistakes and not to repeat those again.
Like how Yeon-su said that "the more you try to run away from past, the more it traps you in and that it makes you repeat the mistakes again".
That documentary actually came as a gift for them and that's how they found out when they actually fell in love 10 years ago and how they loved each other but due to their own pride and prejudice they presumed things and let go of each other which could've been resolved with just a lil talk face to face which they eventually learnt. They learnt to trust each other and communicate.
Yeon-su found out that she wasn't all alone like she thought all her time instead she had someone to rely on at each phase of her life, someone came in as a friend, some as colleagues while someone as the love of her life. All she had to do was to look at them and let go of her presumptions.
And Woong learnt to let go of his traumatic past and being afraid of getting abandoned again.
Ji-woong learnt to accept his life too. They all embraced their past while learning to love their present.
This show dealt with a lot issues.
From Childhood Negligence by Parents to growing up in poverty without Parents and abandonment by loved ones. A messed-up break-up and it's consequences.
The drama showed how trusting yourself and your loved ones is the most important thing.
• Cast and Acting :
The Cast of this drama was top-notch. Each actor did justice to their respective characters. You could totally feel the emotions that the characters felt.
I've been a fan of Choi Woo-shik since "Hogu's Love" and Kim Da-mi since "Itaewon Class". Kim seong-chol is one great actor too, I remember him from "Prison Playbook" where he made a brief appearance. Roh Jung-eui did a fabulous job too.
Other cast members were perfect too.
While some were familiar faces like Woong's Mum and Dad who played such warm and kind people.
Sol-ri played Park Jin-joo, the perfect actor to play that eccentric best friend of the FL did full justice to her skills by bringing much needed laughter to our screens.
While others like Eun-ho, Chae-ran, Park PD, Yeon-su's colleagues were new faces to me. They all were so good as well.
Perhaps what surprised me the most about this drama is that there's no character that I could hate. I was reading the interview of the writer of this show and how she chose to write 3-dimensional characters with no-one solely bad or good, which I agree with.
After all, all humans have multiple sides to them.
• The OST :
I can say that this show had one of the Best OSTs of all time. Each song played in the background conveyed and aroused emotions. Every song went well with the over-all vibes of this drama.
My Favourite Tracks are:-
#1 Christmas Tree by V (OST Pt.5)
#2 Home by Janet Suhh ( OST Pt. 6)
#3 Drawer by 10cm ( OST Pt. 1)
#4 Maybe if by BIBI ( OST Pt. 2)
#5 The Giving Tree by Lee Seung Yoon ( OST Pt. 7)
#6 Summer Rain by Sam Kim ( OST Pt. 8)
I have these tracks on my Spotify Favourites now and on loop listening to these. Idk why but I cry when listening to Giving Tree, Home, Maybe if and Drawer.
Now what I didn't like:
The only thing that could've been better was if they had only 12 Episodes or if they showed a lil more of their school days and if the last episode gave a lil more elaborate ending to us than just throwing a lot at once.
No, I am not saying that it felt rushed or messy rather I felt that our Mains had a very lil time having those cute couple moments.
Besides that Product placement by Samsung lol 😂 every character had a "Z-flip".
• Conclusion: This drama is truly a gem. From great acting, writing, cinematography, direction and OST, this show had it all.
This drama has truly become one of my favourite dramas of all time that I like to call "Soulful" Dramas which I can watch multiple times.
I felt all the emotions while watching this. From crying to getting frustrated, from having that smile on my face unconsciously to feeling butterflies in my stomach. It had it all.
What made this show so special for me was how it reminded of my own life, being grown up as a single child of a single mom in a not so affluent family and being perceived as an aimless and lost cause person. I could relate to all three characters... Yeon-su, Choi Woong and Ji-woong.
I hope they make a season 2 of this perhaps 3-4 years from now like how in the very last scene they started filming again after finding that the sequel to their documentary went viral too and told the viewers that they're married.
Wouldn't it be interesting seeing Yeon-su and Woong married and their reactions to what life has in the box ready to be thrown at them. Also I want a true happy ending for Ji-woong and NJ too.
On that note let's wrap this up.
Hurry and go watch it now.
I didn't give away a lot of what actually happened cuz I want you to watch the show yourself and experience each emotion that the characters felt.
BTW, am so grateful that I watched this show in just 38 hours and got outta my K-drama slump.
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nostalgic summer
If you're into slow-paced, healing dramas, this series will be the perfect fit for you. The character development/relationship development is fairly slow-paced but it's a good pace especially because they have interesting flashback scenes as well as shifts between the characters. I really appreciated getting to know the stories of the side characters as well as the main characters, the directing and cinematography is definitely top tier as well...The peaceful and calmness of this dramas as a whole was incredibly healing,, I think the last time I watched something that gave me such vibes was When the Weather Is Fine. The acting, as expected, was so realistic and the feelings were portrayed so well. Kim Dami and Choi Wooshik definitely did the original characters & the webtoon justice. Unlike most rom-coms, the second leads (Jiwoong and NJ) gave such great vibes/characteristics, it was such a breath of fresh air that they were so easy to understand and empathize with.
The OST was also wonderful, everything fit so well with this nostalgic-summer esq vibe that I long to revisit, it's like experiencing sweet first love moments when things were carefree :) Big props to the whole crew and this series overall. <3
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I go back to December all the time
I saw many comments saying this is a boring drama and is really slow, so I was hesitant to start this. I'm SO glad I did (and this is coming from someone who almost never watches the slice of life genre). It was not boring at all. Although I understand why it is considered a slow burn, I found each episode zipping by, and was always eager to watch more to understand the characters. I think the characters being relatable, realistic people helped make it work.Story
The story is pretty straightforward - two people who are polar opposites fall in love after filming a documentary in high school, they break up really badly, meet again after 5 years and drama ensues. They realize how they have changed, and how they have remained the same, this time determined to make things right and to approach their relationship with more maturity. The way the story is told makes things intriguing because it's not presented in a chronological order. Rather, you will be jumping between their present and fragments of their past. The writer did an amazing job putting things in an order that adds more context and depth to the situation at hand. By telling you how the present is relevant to the past, you know why the characters behave in a certain way, and why some things are better the second time around.
Message
The structure of the story is like peeling an onion, each new episode unravels a new layer about the characters, until you start to empathize with each of them. It is a character-driven drama without a very clear plot, almost like you're living with the characters. You learn new lessons about life, about people. You might start with hating a certain character, and end feeling sorry for them after knowing their backstory. It provides perspective to the human condition, and there is always something to resonate with when it comes to that.
Romance
The drama is centered on romance, so it won't be a good drama if there's no good romance. And I would say, the couple is one of my favorite OTPs I've seen in a drama. There's something about them that just screams that they are meant to be, and you don't see that same spark when they are hanging out with other people. This is the "opposites attract" trope done right. The ML and FL complete each other, they help build each other's weaknesses with their own strengths. There is every reason they fell for each other, every reason they broke apart, and also every reason they wanted to be together again. Nothing felt forced. It was a natural relationship featuring two people with flaws, who sometimes behave like children although they are full grown adults, and who eventually grow strong enough to face their traumas to become better people who are capable of giving and receiving love.
Conclusion
I don't think this drama is overrated, as long as you go in knowing what it is. If you're looking for something exciting, fast-paced, keeps you at the edge of your seat, or some sort of bubbly, happy, feel-good romcom, this is not it. But if you like reading a book on a breezy afternoon weekend while taking a sip of hot chocolate, this is what the drama feels like.
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Our Painfully, Pain, Pain, Pain with a side of flufff
Prepare yourselves for some pain, and I do not just mean a little pain, I mean a lot of it as the team for this drama truly do all in their power to make you feel the prolonged suffering of the main couple with the use of dialog, visuals and a pretty painful OST.I was honestly surprised over how much could feel their pain, as I spent most of this drama with a lump in my chest. And as the true drama masochist I am I LOVED every moment of it... yep I did! If you are not a fan of pain step away and do not come near this drama.. because it has so many different types of pain and levels of brokenness, fear and pain making it one of the most painfully, pain, pain, pain dramas I have watched of course with some humour, cuteness and beauty... but did I mention pain?
I think I read someone say this reminded them of Reply 1988 and I am willing to agree, I am just not going to tell you in what way, so I won't spoil it for you... But there is deffinetly a familiarity between the two dramas.
This drama has a few (very few) slightly annoying scenes, but I would say this is a meet after a break up drama done right. though I did want to yell at the cast from time to time to TALK TO EACH OTHER... There was not a single character (ok one) that was not lovable at least once.
"My mother is dyeing and I don't feel the least bit sad" made me forget every single flaw in this drama...
Extra points for the way they portray how poverty affects people, as well as some pretty raw lines about bad parenting... minus for some other parts about parenting but then again some more for the good parents and what makes a family...
Extra points for the OST, showing how much ones mood affects the way you hear a song, as some of the songs felt sad and dark in some of the episodes but happy, fluffy and romantic in others... yes the same song, same piano... same tone, same voice... completely different emotion. Now that takes talent and color me impressed!
It also has some well done product placement, some a bit too obvious that will make you laugh, and some PPL that is just in the way... Also wrong botle of Soju... it was blue! very confusing. They make good use of umbrellas too...
This drama is not for everybody, so do not be fooled by the name Our Beloved Summer... there is very little beloved and even less summer (it is mostly fall and winter). But for all you fellow drama masochists out there, this will have you felling stuff, biting your nails and screaming at the screen!
Oh and most of the episodes are named after movies from the 90s... kind of cute.
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gue paling gasuka bangetttttttt cerita cinta segitiga di antara dua sahabat. terakhir gue nonton kisah serupa tuh di love alarm, tapi sama kaya obs ini, GUE TETEP GABISA BERENTI ALIAS KESEL TP GEMES JG HHHHHH.
secara keseluruhan our beloved summer emang apik banget sih. well written, semuanya dikupas habis tanpa meninggalkan lubang tanda tanya. dinamika plotnya cakeuppppp, lengkap! gemesnya ada, kesel dan gregetannya ada, sedihnya pun ada. penggunaan kedua─atau tiga kalau kim jiung juga termasuk─sudut pandang dari tokoh utamanya pas, ngga berat sebelah. character developmentnya juga keliatan walau pelan banget tapi ya masih dalam batas normal. tadinya kalo kook yeonsu masih nyebelin dari awal sampe akhir, gue pengen banget ngejambak rambutnya, tapi syukurnya dia berubah hohoho. selain itu kehadiran para pemeran pendukungnya juga sesuai porsi, ngga ada yang mendominasi. justru kemunculan mereka di semua scene nerbener mendukung ide cerita si pemeran utama.
visualnya cantik! vibes dan tone-nya kaya film-film indie korea, pastel pastel gitu. wardrobe pemeran utama (choi ung, kook yeonsu, sama kim jiung) juga cakeup cakeup. warnanya netral semua, jadi kesannya kaya matching aja gitu satu sama lain.
overall gue suka bangetngetngetttttttttt ahdhajsgajs sampe kebawa mimpi loh anjrit.
"coba nengok ke belakang"-nya choi ung ttep membekas di hati alias ga pernah gagal bikin gemes.
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Beloved Indeed <3
Where to start, this show was amazing!! I've been waiting for this show since the description was put on MDL and I was not disappointed. This show was beautiful from the characters to the music :)Story: It's great! We see many different stages of the main couple (enemies to lovers in school, dating, post-break up, when they meet again, and rekindled/back together). The writers do a good job telling the story of the 2 main characters which I appreciate. You see that neither of them are bad people, just lonely.
- It's also more on the slow-paced side but it makes the show even more meaningful and beautiful.
- I will say this show gives of lowkey melo vibes rather than rom com. There are many comedic moments but the emotional and tension-filled might be more prevalent to you like it was for me... I still love the show and I laughed and smiled a lot but just a mini heads up hehe
- I wasn’t the biggest fan of the love square but not enough for me to knock it down from a 10/10
Acting/Cast: This is my 1st time watching Kim Da Mi and Choi Woo Shik and they were amazing!! Their chemistry was great and they embodied their characters :) All the other characters were equally great and I loved seeing some actors again like our favorite best friend Park Jin Joo, and Jeon Hye Won. Also, Ung's Parents have to be some of the best Dramaland parents I've seen, they were wonderful.
Music: Absolutely one of my favorite drama osts, it's stellar!!! My favorite is "Maybe If" by BIBI <3
Rewatch Value: I don't rewatch shows because I have a long watchlist lol but if I did "Our Beloved Summer" would be on the list, especially the couple moments :)
Overall, this show was soothing and I loved watching Ung and Yeon Su find their way back to each other. I recommend this show if your a fan of any of the cast, enjoy aesthetically pleasing shows, or looking for a good story & soundtrack! If you're not a fan of slow-paced shows this one might not be for you but I think it's still worth checking out, Happy watching!! :)
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Everything is just perfect.
For the first time in my life, I actually found that one drama that I absolutely love. This drama has everything, great directing, great camerawork, great acting, great setting, great story, great characters. Just everything.I begin watching this drama with no expectation at all, I just think it's gonna be another feel-good drama and nothing seems special about it. But I'm totally wrong, this drama started in a very special way, they begin with a flashback when the main characters are still in high school, shooting a documentary about their lives as top ranked student and worst student in school. It may not sound spectacular, but the way they made this summer-flashback-highschool scene is brilliant. They perfectly portrayed the personality and the whole nature of our main characters when they're still young and later show how much different they are to their present-day self (light spoiler: they're not different at all ㅋㅋ).
The way they use color in this drama is absolutely beautiful, you will feel the warmth of summer and the coldness of winter and the way they combined it with parallel editing give us this beautiful contrast between the past and the present. And let's not forget about the beautiful camerawork, everything just blends together perfectly.
The acting...what can I say? Choi Woo-Shik and Kim Da-Mi is just the top tier actor/actress in Kdrama right now, they totally owned their characters. Their subtle expression is just perfect, I never saw any actor/actress that can be nearly as good as them at this kind of subtle or micro expression, their characters felt really humane because of that.
The last but not least, the OSTs. The OSTs for this drama is PACKED with talent, V's "Christmas Tree" is absolutely beautiful and fits really well with a lot of scenes in this drama. BIBI’s "Maybe if" is just *chef kiss, and 10cm just being a romcom OST king as usual with his new song "Drawer", his voice is a must in a romance drama.
TL;DR. Just watch this, please. It's my first 10/10 drama and I'm really picky with my ratings. I guarantee it will be a great ride all the way to the end, enjoy.
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What A Cute Drama!
I have been waiting long for this drama since last year. Since I started to like Choi Woo Sik. And yess....applaused! I love their chemistry, I love all the soundtrack, I love the drawing, I love the friendship between them especially Choi Ung and Ji Ung.And this story succeed to bring me back to my school life and my crush during that time. How miss crazily to that time. And there's a few scene that makes me nearly to cry.
Choi Woo Sik, I am your fans since I watched you in Rooftop prince and I think I will continue to be your fans. To the director of Our Beloved Summer, please make this drama happy ending. Pleasee. Since this drama still on going. So please make happy ending. And, please send someone for Ji Ung. Don't be too cruel to Ji Ung. I started to like Kim Sung Cheol also. Hehehehe....
Anyway, I love the whole story. This masterpiece really touched my heart. 😘 10 stars!!
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refreshing af
this kdrama is something else! it's still airing as i'm writing this, but seriously consider watching it.it has a stereotypical breakup and get back together trope, but the directors do such a great job at making every episode intriguing and original in its own way. the cast is so perfect and the chemistry feels super real.
also as an army i love V's ost Christmas Tree. also maybe if and drawer are two other amazing osts.
this drama makes my mondays and tuesdays so refreshing :) i love how relatable the plot is and the supporting cast is so cute. getting serious second lead syndrome though ;-;
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