This review may contain spoilers
Cherish Your Youth
I held off on watching this drama for quite awhile due to the simple fact that I’m not a fan of love triangles, which this show very much has. I kept seeing snippets of it via social media, though, so I finally caved & pushed play. And while the triangle definitely lowered my rating some, I’m still glad I watched it because I ended up enjoying it more than I expected to.
It tells the story of a quirky college freshman who has no time for extracurricular activities/clubs because she’s solely focused on making money to support herself + her mother & younger brother. So she initially turns down her bestie’s request to join the university cheerleading squad, but when she’s bribed with money if she joins, she quickly signs up. The catch? She must keep it a secret that she’s being paid. She thinks it’ll be easy money… then she officially meets the captain (whom she’s already had some not-so-good encounters with). He’s more serious & mature than her, so their personalities constantly clash. Not to mention that he’s very passionate about the squad, while she’s only in it for as long as it takes to get paid. So the viewers are left with an all too familiar question of: will this duo resolve their issues & misunderstandings so they can have a happy ending or are they destined to be each other’s college-love regret?
As the story plays out it presents the viewers with lots of different things. It has some truly hilarious parts that left me giggling at the chaotic cast. It also had heartwarming moments that remind you how beautiful & precious life is. There are realistically sad moments too that caused my heart to hurt a bit for the characters’ pain. They experience both losses & wins throughout. The plot has enough secrets & mysteries to keep you invested in seeing how it all finally plays out. There are villains & there are heroes, each with a story to tell. We witness the characters’ trauma & how they grow. There’s life-long friends & the birth of new friendships. There’s the angst & excitement of many new loves.
And there’s the underlying message about choosing to chase your dreams no matter the obstacles & not wasting your youth since you only get to live it for a short time.
Now, for the main trio.
- The FL: I found her to be quite unique. I feel like generally girls with her personality & brand of crazy are relegated to side-character status, so it was refreshing to see such a quirky girl as the lead female. I quite enjoyed her as she was a strong young woman who didn’t let others push her around. How she handled her ex? Ha - you go, girl! She was determined to provide a better life for her family so she willingly sacrificed her own happiness to help them, which is both admirable & heartbreaking to watch. She did take this to the extreme & was quite controlling/bossy to both her mother & brother, but her reasoning is later explained & then you just want to give the poor girl a hug. She wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself, nor to work hard for what she wanted. And while she didn’t enjoy hurting people, she didn’t allow their feelings to manipulate her into doing things she was truly against. Yeah, she frustrated me at times with the triangle drama, but overall I found her to be relatable in her flaws & commendable in her strengths.. 🫶🏻
- The ML: I know some may think differently, but he’s totally green, IMHO. Yes, his hesitation in confessing is frustrating & makes him seem a bit flaky, but when you take into account why he was hesitant, it’s kinda admirable (even while still annoying). He truly wished to protect the FL so he wanted to keep his distance until the danger surrounding the squad could be resolved. I was so happy when he finally allowed himself to follow his heart despite the risks, because he was so good for her. I know he screwed up & reacted poorly towards her a couple times, but again, take into account the why behind his reactions & it all makes sense. PLUS he took responsibility & apologized for messing up, which takes a lot of maturity to do. He was also super cool in his refusal to let her “take the heat” for dating him, her captain, when that camera crew was around. And one of parts that made me absolutely love him is how he handled their “break up”. Honestly, he’s total aces in my book for that (iykyk). 🫠
- The SML: look, I’m just going to be straight up honest here & say that I don’t at all understand the obsession with this character. To me, he’s a total red flag. He’s a very selfish & self-centered guy. (FL’s brother says it best with his response when the SML tries using him to get closer to her. I was totally cheering for the brother in that scene!) For the majority of the drama he’s very obsessive & manipulative, one of the love-rival types who’s just seriously annoying to me. He doesn’t care about the FL’s lack of interest in him or how his actions affect her. After the FL again rejected him, he started dating out of spite which is super unfair to his new gf. That does not say “good guy” to me. Yes, he had his moments where you could see his potential to be better, but he almost always ruined it with his usual immaturity. Until the last episodes, everything he did was selfishly motivated so sorry, not sorry, I just didn’t like him. 🚩
As for the rest of the squad, I’m glad we got to delve into each of their stories a bit. It helped them seem more like real people, rather than just filler side-characters. It also is a great reminder that every single person has a story of their own to tell. While we’re the MC’s of our own life stories, we’re just the side-characters in someone else’s, while they get the MC role. It’s important to remember that the world does not, in fact, revolve around us & our individual lives. 😉
Also, the moms were a total bonus. It was fun to watch them reconnect & navigate through their rivalry, history, & all it brought with it. They were such opposites as parents, but they both unashamedly & completely loved their children. They had their good points & their bad points which just shows that mothers are human too.
One last thing I’ll mention - I have no idea why they’re called a Cheerleading Squad. Maybe it’s just lost in translation? In my country, they’d be labeled a dance team. Which honestly is no big deal & doesn’t take away from the plot at all, I simply mention it because I was really confused in the first several episodes while I waited for them to do some actual cheering. Or at least some stunts in their routines like I expect cheerleaders to do. But there’s absolutely none of that so I’m just throwing that out there so you don’t go in with those same expectations as I did, haha.
_________\\__________//________
-⬇️ S P O I L E R S 🚫 B E L O W ⬇️-
.
…
….
……
The things I always want to know 😏😉…
- First(real)Kiss : ep.11💋
- Together : ep.12 👩🏻❤️👨🏻
- BreakUp : ep.14 💔
- BackTogether : ep.15❤️🩹
It tells the story of a quirky college freshman who has no time for extracurricular activities/clubs because she’s solely focused on making money to support herself + her mother & younger brother. So she initially turns down her bestie’s request to join the university cheerleading squad, but when she’s bribed with money if she joins, she quickly signs up. The catch? She must keep it a secret that she’s being paid. She thinks it’ll be easy money… then she officially meets the captain (whom she’s already had some not-so-good encounters with). He’s more serious & mature than her, so their personalities constantly clash. Not to mention that he’s very passionate about the squad, while she’s only in it for as long as it takes to get paid. So the viewers are left with an all too familiar question of: will this duo resolve their issues & misunderstandings so they can have a happy ending or are they destined to be each other’s college-love regret?
As the story plays out it presents the viewers with lots of different things. It has some truly hilarious parts that left me giggling at the chaotic cast. It also had heartwarming moments that remind you how beautiful & precious life is. There are realistically sad moments too that caused my heart to hurt a bit for the characters’ pain. They experience both losses & wins throughout. The plot has enough secrets & mysteries to keep you invested in seeing how it all finally plays out. There are villains & there are heroes, each with a story to tell. We witness the characters’ trauma & how they grow. There’s life-long friends & the birth of new friendships. There’s the angst & excitement of many new loves.
And there’s the underlying message about choosing to chase your dreams no matter the obstacles & not wasting your youth since you only get to live it for a short time.
Now, for the main trio.
- The FL: I found her to be quite unique. I feel like generally girls with her personality & brand of crazy are relegated to side-character status, so it was refreshing to see such a quirky girl as the lead female. I quite enjoyed her as she was a strong young woman who didn’t let others push her around. How she handled her ex? Ha - you go, girl! She was determined to provide a better life for her family so she willingly sacrificed her own happiness to help them, which is both admirable & heartbreaking to watch. She did take this to the extreme & was quite controlling/bossy to both her mother & brother, but her reasoning is later explained & then you just want to give the poor girl a hug. She wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself, nor to work hard for what she wanted. And while she didn’t enjoy hurting people, she didn’t allow their feelings to manipulate her into doing things she was truly against. Yeah, she frustrated me at times with the triangle drama, but overall I found her to be relatable in her flaws & commendable in her strengths.. 🫶🏻
- The ML: I know some may think differently, but he’s totally green, IMHO. Yes, his hesitation in confessing is frustrating & makes him seem a bit flaky, but when you take into account why he was hesitant, it’s kinda admirable (even while still annoying). He truly wished to protect the FL so he wanted to keep his distance until the danger surrounding the squad could be resolved. I was so happy when he finally allowed himself to follow his heart despite the risks, because he was so good for her. I know he screwed up & reacted poorly towards her a couple times, but again, take into account the why behind his reactions & it all makes sense. PLUS he took responsibility & apologized for messing up, which takes a lot of maturity to do. He was also super cool in his refusal to let her “take the heat” for dating him, her captain, when that camera crew was around. And one of parts that made me absolutely love him is how he handled their “break up”. Honestly, he’s total aces in my book for that (iykyk). 🫠
- The SML: look, I’m just going to be straight up honest here & say that I don’t at all understand the obsession with this character. To me, he’s a total red flag. He’s a very selfish & self-centered guy. (FL’s brother says it best with his response when the SML tries using him to get closer to her. I was totally cheering for the brother in that scene!) For the majority of the drama he’s very obsessive & manipulative, one of the love-rival types who’s just seriously annoying to me. He doesn’t care about the FL’s lack of interest in him or how his actions affect her. After the FL again rejected him, he started dating out of spite which is super unfair to his new gf. That does not say “good guy” to me. Yes, he had his moments where you could see his potential to be better, but he almost always ruined it with his usual immaturity. Until the last episodes, everything he did was selfishly motivated so sorry, not sorry, I just didn’t like him. 🚩
As for the rest of the squad, I’m glad we got to delve into each of their stories a bit. It helped them seem more like real people, rather than just filler side-characters. It also is a great reminder that every single person has a story of their own to tell. While we’re the MC’s of our own life stories, we’re just the side-characters in someone else’s, while they get the MC role. It’s important to remember that the world does not, in fact, revolve around us & our individual lives. 😉
Also, the moms were a total bonus. It was fun to watch them reconnect & navigate through their rivalry, history, & all it brought with it. They were such opposites as parents, but they both unashamedly & completely loved their children. They had their good points & their bad points which just shows that mothers are human too.
One last thing I’ll mention - I have no idea why they’re called a Cheerleading Squad. Maybe it’s just lost in translation? In my country, they’d be labeled a dance team. Which honestly is no big deal & doesn’t take away from the plot at all, I simply mention it because I was really confused in the first several episodes while I waited for them to do some actual cheering. Or at least some stunts in their routines like I expect cheerleaders to do. But there’s absolutely none of that so I’m just throwing that out there so you don’t go in with those same expectations as I did, haha.
_________\\__________//________
-⬇️ S P O I L E R S 🚫 B E L O W ⬇️-
.
…
….
……
The things I always want to know 😏😉…
- First(real)Kiss : ep.11💋
- Together : ep.12 👩🏻❤️👨🏻
- BreakUp : ep.14 💔
- BackTogether : ep.15❤️🩹
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