This review may contain spoilers
Beautiful Visuals, Empty Story: A Drama That Falls Flat
When I saw the poster and everything, I had pretty high expectations. The visuals were great, but the acting, on the other hand, was a mess.The female lead was just an empty character. She barely did anything throughout the show and mostly just stared at everyone with teary eyes.
The male lead’s acting was over the top, almost as if he was trying to make up for the female lead’s lack of personality, but it didn’t work well at all.
The show seemed like it would be about music and artistic themes, but it ended up being focused almost entirely on solving the murder case of Bom’s mother. The main “villains” were supposedly trying to keep the leads apart to stop the truth from coming out, but it was so poorly executed and felt completely unnecessary.
The romance was practically nonexistent, maybe a little in episode 4, but later on they just forgot about it. Also, they had no chemistry. Like, none at all.
And the ending? A total mess. What do you mean you see someone after two years, kiss them, and that’s it, happy ending, yay 😀? It was beyond unrealistic.
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meh drama.
i was expecting TOO much from this drama, first episode was good, but only halfway. didn’t really like sagye’s character, too annoying for the first episode like?? and the way bom just liked him like that because of a concert, then suddenly dated him in eps 4??acting: i personally liked jihu’s acting more in aouad. in spring of youth she’s like.. forcing her expressions to be bom, and yoojon too (i get that this is his 2nd drama, i think) but actings are meh except seunghyub, sunmin & hyewon.
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A Disappointment All Over!!!
This is one of those shows that comes & goes without making much impression!I’m not saying it is boring, it had its own perks. This project was likely written as an attempt to boast main lead Ha Yu Jun’s popularity before he makes his debut as the lead vocalist of the newly formed band, AxMxP in 2025. It is actually surprising because I have never heard of a pop idol being cast in the main lead even before he makes his debut. So, the show revolves and rotates around Ha Yu Jun’s Sa Gye, his struggles and his efforts to seek justice for an incident that actually doesn’t involve him. Must say, that Sa Gye is quite righteous and even after his downfall, he still has the courage and guts to bring down a music empire. The storytelling is crisp in some places but lags in some other places; mostly the main issue gets dragged too much. There isn’t much substantial storyline left to gleam over for almost 10 episodes; so you keep wondering why we are watching the same thing every week.
Read the complete article here-
https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2025/07/04/spring-of-youth-series-review/#more-1962
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Average
Showed promise with the first episode but unfortunately the wafer-thin plot dragged on for 10 episodes. On the plus side, good visuals, the music is catchy and the actors genuinely seemed to have a blast together. However, the drama is let down by corny lines "JUST THINK OF BOM, ANYTHING FOR BOM", uninteresting/underdeveloped side plots and questionable character decisions. Sa Gye falls into the noble idiot trope and Sang Hun into a manic villain. Tae Yang who seems to have the worst luck of them all has the most depressing ending. I found 12 episodes to be the sweet spot for dramas but this made 10 feel like too many. Ultimately frustrating, albeit predictable watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Good and bad in the same time
This drama takes advantage of cute and promising young actors as well as good experienced actors, all of them are a pleasure to watch; especially the side roles were quite difficult and they did very well! I found the music very good, which is not always obvious for music related series. I have mixed feelings about the writing. It has definitive a few good ideas and I enjoyed the parts that felt really as "spring": easy, floofy, exuberant, sometimes crazy - as youth actually is. Yet the story had also a heavy and dark theme and I felt that the mixing of them did not succeed. Sometimes the dark part of the story felt very unrealistic, sometimes really cheap. There are examples of successful mixing of themes and feeling, yet this is not one. Hence, I cannot recommend to invest your time in watching it.Was this review helpful to you?
This drama grew on me
I will be honest, I only tuned in because I was curious of the new FNC band (I think all but one member featured) and of course there was Seunghyub in the drama and I just like him a lot. Probably more as a musician than actor but still. If he is in it I will at least give it a try. And so of course I was annoyed because again he was cast as a college student (come on now, the guy is over 30 years old...) and in the second male lead/band context. Just give the guy a role where he plays a character his age!The drama, I have to admit... it was tough going for me. I nearly turned off by episode 4 but then I finally did get pulled into the story and ended up really enjoying it and looking forward to the next episodes. If a drama can keep me hooked until the end then it gets a 8 from me.
So what did I enjoy the most... Seunghyub of course and his acting I thought was really good, his character, though not the nicest had some depth. And yes, I did rewatch some of the scenes and yes I cried too when he watched the footage at the end of episode 10.
I also really liked the new FNC kid (Ha Yoo-joon, also frontman of the AxMxP), I found his acting really natural and watching him in outside the drama I dont think he played himself (the character is so warmhearted, slightly naive and super optimistic) as he came across a bit shy and introverted in interviews . The FL was also quite cute and I liked her.
Some of the side characters were a bit loud and annoying. From the evil agency boss to the auntie and cousin.
So I guess what I would say, maybe stick around for a bit and you might get pulled in too?! It def doesnt deserve all the bad reviews on here.
OH and of course I loved the soundtrack and listening to the other AxMxP songs (check out Monday to Sunday on their YT channel! Such a great song) I cannot wait for the debut!
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Fluffy college rom com that took a nose dive into meaningless disconnected MESS
The first 4 episodes was ok, nothing special, a fluffy college romance. It was not terrible but it was not total trash. The ML is peppy, and energetic and ful role, the only thing is that I am dying to CUT HIS BANGS so that I can see his eyes, I keep wondering when he is gonna get an eye infection LOLthe 2nd ML is OK and at least looks good so when his acting is too stiff, there is at least a face to look at.
FL cannot act and is super stiff and obvious in her acting, that is annoying.
The plot wasnt terrible.
AND THEN - the deep nose dive into total MESS that just cannot be watched. Ep 5 is ... well.. all over the place, makes no sense, acting is terrible bc the script is total trash, it is just one of those WHOA!!!! what is this??? reactions when you watch something totally meaningless and disconnected
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Could've been great, but ended up being mediocre
The bones of the story here had a lot of potential to be a great story that could leave a lasting impression, but sadly this series did not deliver. The writing of this series is questionable and it produced characters that you know you should feel something for but which you just don't. I think the CEO and the DR had wayyyy too much relevance in this series and instead of being bad guys, they just became annoying at some point. I feel like everything else was just dusted over. And the finale was esp underwhelming and just furthered the disconnect of the story. I feel like giving this a 7 is being kind really, but that's what I'm giving it anyways.Was this review helpful to you?
Not the idol drama I hoped for - but a star emerged nonetheless
I admit it. I’m drawn to dramas about Kpop idols. They don’t even have to be all that good for me to stick it out. (Hence the fact I completed Namib.). Lovely Runner being the lone exception, idol dramas always seem to fall short. Spring of Youth started out with an interesting premise as Sa Gye (Ha Yoo-jun), the lead singer of Crown, is kicked out of the group and has to go to college. But because of a secret he learned, his former company president does everything he can to destroy him. It's really hard to watch as the president and his accomplice - both adults - do increasingly terrible things to silence teen Sa Gye. Despite everything thrown at him, Sa Gye manages to maintain a positive attitude. This, and the fact that I wanted to see the adults get what they deserved, is why I finished the series.I wish that in a show about idols, there had been more music – rather than various iterations of the same song played repeatedly. And that the ending had provided more details about the future. But there is at least one good thing came out of watching the show – the discovery of its young star, Ha Yoo-jun, who is the main vocalist for the soon to debut band, AxMxP. I definitely plan to “see him (and AxMxP) later”!
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fun and sad moments felt the same. very blank
watching the main couple always felt empty, and was only watching to hopefully see some romance with gyuri (second girl). The acting was not bad, but not good either, it felt very black and white, and all moments fun or sad had no reaction. Would give a higher rating if secondary roles also had romance, or at least something to be excited for...Was this review helpful to you?
Loved the old school drama vibe!
I'll admit the drama wasn't deep, BUT what I loved was the way it returned to some of my favorite things about dramas from a few years back. Most dramas coming out these days feel the need to be edgy and intense and have whiny music, but this one was allowed to have youthful energy and simplicity (even the villains were given simple motivations and consistent behavior). I loved seeing the band idols doing what they're best at--playing their music joyfully and passionately-- and I loved having a soundtrack that ran through the drama and helped define the mood. Newcomer Ha Yu Jun was just fantastic. The character he created was vibrant and believable, and I look forward to seeing more of him in music and dramas.Was this review helpful to you?
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Spring of Youth: 7/31/2025 ~ 8/1/2025
I really enjoyed watching this show, so much so that I finished it in two days. It was a cute storyline and I love how much the ML was in love with the FL. The only downside is the whole mom storyline cause while I get what they were tryna do it was a little weird with the little flashes between him and the mom. Especially considering they happened when they were together. I do like however in the end she does say she no longer sees her mom but instead only sees him which makes it a lil better but it’s still a lil weird. Also I really wish we got more of a resolution between the FL and the 2ML, since it felt kinda opened ended. Overall all though it was a really good show, and I like how the villains actually made sense and weren’t just like random things for the plot.Was this review helpful to you?
