This review may contain spoilers
A Beautiful Telling of the Complexity of Love
I'm late to the Twenty Five - Twenty One party but I found it at the perfect time. Easily one of the best Kdramas I've watched in a while.I've read a number of reviews for this series - quite a few viewers feeling disappointed with how the story culminated, some lost interest in how the story progressed. I found this story to be such a beautiful telling of love and care in its most raw, complicated, exciting, delightful, difficult, painful, wonderful way. Love for your passions and the willingness to fight adversity for it, love for your family and the lengths you'll endure to protect and save them, romantic love and the way it can heal and break us and, perhaps the most important to me while watching this series, love for your community and your friends and how they can carry you through both the darkness and the light. With this in mind, how could I not love it?
Hee-do is by far my favourite character in of all time. She's brash, aggressive, so tender and sensitive. And at no point does this characterization get maligned in favour of a more palatable one. I'm grateful to the writers. The love story between her and Yi-jin was also one of my favourites of all time. The love that they share feels deeper than romance. It felt like something far reaching and soulful. It feels down to their spirit and I believe that even as adults, they love each other in a way that is less desperate, more soft and constant.
Yu-rim and Ji-ung are so special to me! Seeing their love story blossom in the ways that it did was incredibly sweet.
I will absolutely be rewatching
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The Beauty in Second Chances
Our Beloved Summer felt like a balm and like cool air at dawn. It was a completely refreshing watch that ultimately bewitched me and held me in its world. This story was a masterclass in character driven narratives that demand your deep attention and examination. Where others might characterize this drama as slow in pace, I understand it to be less of a meander and more of a intentional stroll through the complex lives of a group of young people trying to find themselves. They search for glimpses via validation in their careers; they try to see themselves reflected back to them through others. They're dysfunctional and messy and honest and afraid and I think that's a part of the charm of this drama.This is my first experience with Kim Da-mi and Choi Woo-shik and I was not disappointed. Kim Da-mi offers a compelling "difficult" woman whose life experiences have created a hardened shell to shield her from the harshness of the world. But beneath that shell is a vulnerable, fragile and scared woman looking for a soft place to land. Choi Woo-shik's vulnerability and honesty were chef's kiss. His capacity to portray someone so deeply in love that the ache of losing them haunts both their waking and dreaming was felt. Together, they showed the depth of love - how it pulls and pushes, how it hurts and heals. In fact, each character makes the case for love's fulsome capacity. That, regardless of our desires, love bends not just to our individual needs, but it also curves with life and life's journey.
Definitely a favourite watch of this year and has easily slid into my comfort watch list.
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