This review may contain spoilers
a warm cup of tea on a rainy afternoon
{It will warm your heart like a cup of tea...with youthful laughter and the innocent blushes of first love...yet you will still feel somewhat sad and melancholy...as one does on a rainy afternoon.}20th Century Girl is definitely a solid high school, nostalgic rom-com. Admittedly, it is nothing original with a cliche plotline, and typical misunderstandings make up the biggest backbone of the plotline. However, the actors give life to their characters; Kim Yoo Jung's range of emotions never fails to astound me, and her co-lead Byun Woo Seok represents his character's subtle warmth perfectly. (AND OMG all the cameos--Han Hyo Joo, Gong Myung, & Ong Seung Wu--were a surprise to me, and all of them were faves, so I was genuinely happy to see them, too <3)
My only gripe is that I don't think it was quite the tear-jerker like fans on TikTok and other social media made it seem. I was definitely not sobbing or bawling at the middle of the movie, and I was not a puddle of tears at the end. (BUT I DO WISH that we could get a happy ending FOR ONCE in kdramaland 2022. Why do writers hate us this year!? Why WON'T YOU GIVE A PERFECTLY GOOD COUPLE their well-deserved happy ending?!? I'm also definitely unsatisfied with the lingering, unanswered threads at the end of the movie, but I appreciate how other aspects did come full circle. )
Nevertheless, the nostalgic color palette and grading of the film make this movie feel like a warm cup of tea on a rainy afternoon, and the overall production quality raises what should be a 7/10 story to a 8.5/10 cinema. (The silhouette scene of their side profiles in the closet? LOVE.) Because even I, no matter how cynical of a critic hat I pretend to don, am a slave to my feelings, and the predictable plot could not prevent my tears at the end. The simplicity of the dialogue still pulled at my heartstrings, proving that a trope done well...will always hit home.
Was this review helpful to you?
This drama is healing, and the warm cup of tea that I need while recovering from burnout.
General thoughts on the kdrama (so far, as of Episode 5, 5/6/26):- This drama is not for everyone. I keep seeing comments that this show is muddled with plot holes, or that it's too slow, too dumb for the viewers' IQ, and thus, it's overall not worth watching. To all of this, I say: that's okay, you can drop it, you can stop watching. Exercise your free will!
- So then who is this drama for? It's for the people who have been "working until the work is done" (as Dam Ye Jin says near the end of the episode while talking to Mechoori, the very people who end up working themselves to the bone as a result. Even when work is something they are very passionate about and could talk about that passion for hours & hours, it is still work at the end of the day. Work should not be prioritized above one's health.
This drama is about depression, burnout, insomnia, trauma, pain, grief (yes, you can grieve even if someone does not pass away, any loss is a loss, especially betrayal of trust, betrayal of love, etc.), healing, learning, growing.... As of now, I'd put Sold Out on You in the same camp as When the Weather is Fine, Call It Love, Hometown Cha-cha-cha, Welcome to Samdalri, etc.
Constantly running on fumes in the productivity machine, the capitalistic grind, and the hustle culture in modern-day Seoul is not always the lifestyle for everyone. And the beautiful Deokpung village people ... These townfolk showcase another type of life to live, one with a pace very different from the city.
However, you cannot simply compare the two and say one is fast-paced and the other is slow. No, that would defeat the entire point. It's all about what they're working towards. For instance, Ye Jin's friend and colleague, Um Seong Mi, mentions that she works for a refreshing cold beer at the end of a long workday. Whereas Dam Ye Jin regularly pulls all-nighters, chugs coffee like it's water, and abuses psych & gastric reflux medications, overexerting herself & ultimately constantly thinking about work 24/7, perhaps to compensate for her feeling of guilt and trauma, which she has yet to fully unravel. So not all Seoul folk are alike.
Was this review helpful to you?
