Reviews

I have never wanted happiness for two characters more than I do for Minami and Sena.

This drama has some of the best acting I have seen out of the lifestyle romance genre. All of the characters felt very realistic and their decisions didn’t feel silly just to further the plot.

I loved just how musical the entire show was. Dramatic moments were always supported by emotional 90s-early 2000s music that contributed to the atmosphere wonderfully. While the piano performances didn’t feel as intense as they could have, they way the bonded over their affection for the piano was moving.

The set design also played a part in this, as the character’s homes felt lived in, and not simply a set used for filming.

Multiple times through this show, my mouth was left agape as I was unable to comprehend how a seemingly low-budget 1990s J-Drama could convey more realistic relationships than most people can in their own lives.

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Good cast, story not for me

This show has some good actors in it. The leads are obviously seasoned professionals who know what they are doing. You can also tell they have a strong bond behind the scenes, which translates into good on-screen chemistry.

However, despite all that, I just couldn’t get into the series. I had to take a break from it twice before finally making it through. While there were a few rare moments where the plot caught my attention, for the most part, it didn't. I can only blame the writing for that. Given the high reviews from some and the mixed reactions from others like me, it seems whether or not you enjoy this story comes down to personal preference. My advice? Watch it yourself and see if it works for you

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Not as bad as some other dramas

Honestly I didn't expect much, and it exceeded those expectations. Was the series as great as some of the main stream titles? no, no its not. But honestly its got better editing and music taste than a lot of GL's that blare the theme song so loud during NC scenes. The writing definitely could have used more work, but what surprised me the most was how enjoyable the actresses were for me. With a better script I think these girls could actually go a lot further if given the opportunity. (they both still need acting lessons yes) but there are some large budget shows out there with worse acting and scripts. Now the plot is actually interesting, if they had spent more time on it I think it could shine a lot more. For what we got its fine, I think they did good with what they had. People should give this show a chance, its at least worth watching once I think, even if its to kill some time.

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It's unbearable to watch. Boring.

When I see So Ju Yeon, it gives me so much tension and stress. She is good actrice, but in evil roles, the bad guy. Her face give me this feeling all the times. I cant stand her. it's hard to watch her.

Wtf is she, her character, interested in everything about others, in detail, about colleagues, directors... this intrusion scares me... I can't take it, watch it... and all the time it's like she's on the prowl.

in korean culture this intrusion to know what the other person is doing why, how... it's unimaginable how frustrating it can be.

The ML is too good to be part of this mediocre drama. He is so charismatic. When he smiles I'm melting.

Just finished 7th episode. No romance.. ups a failed kiss. No chemistry. The focus is on the job. The FL is crazy, and when he confesses to her, she acting again like a teenager An adult woman will never act like this . The educational system is craziest.

The drama is boring. The Korean schools and culture pressure and stress that children, teenagers endure is unbelievable.

The old teacher, the witch, is so scary... how she manipulates, pressure the students for her own ego. She doesn't have a consciousness, she plays with minds and can traumatize the teenagers ... she does not care about them, she cares about her. She is a fucking red flag. I will never let my child live in an educational system like this or have a teacher like this one.

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A Mid-Tier Drama I Didn't Mind Watching

I watched this well before I started this group and long before I began documenting reviews after watching. Because of that, this review is based solely on my memory from nearly six years ago.

That said, I remember enjoying this series, though I didn’t love it or every sequence, which is why it's placed in a mid-range rating. I enjoyed the storyline, especially since transmigration stories were still very new to me at the time. However, I also remember some pacing issues that occasionally made it difficult to stay fully engaged. And while I have a general positive impression of the drama, many of the specific details weren’t especially memorable to me.

One thing I always consider with any series though is if it was worth the watch. A series can be an alright experience overall and still deliver something meaningful by the end. Although I don't know how I would feel in 2026 having watched so many other great dramas, this was a worthwhile experience in 2020.

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I enjoyed it more than i should :)

okay guys this is actually a simple story and has a few flaws but.. i genuinely enjoyed watching it. this series seriously deserves to be called a comfort show, it’s sweet, sometimes cringy, and i get that not everyone is convinced by the conversations with yuka, but honestly in times where people talk about their mental health problems with chat gpt, talking to a game avatar doesn’t even feel that unbelievable anymore. i do think it’s kinda naive to believe yuka helped a traumatized teenager instead of actual therapy, but i blame that on fiction logic.

i really liked the whole story of the main couple, both actors were convincing, and actor playing junji being japanese really deserves praise for learning all of his lines in thai. i also think there could’ve been more romantic moments between them, especially compared to the second couple. so.. this series is genuinely worth giving a chance.

and now that i already praised what i liked, here are some flaws:

first of all, the second couple and the guy who’s a chef — why are his mother and sister gaslighting him? the mother is toxic and forbids her kids from dating, and in the end the whole storyline basically gets resolved with “actually dating is okay because she dates too” and everyone just smiles about it? they also did absolutely nothing with the father storyline, they showed him once in the hospital and then just dropped it :/ i genuinely don’t understand it, and overall all those family issues with pat, i think that was his name, were a complete mess.

meanwhile his boyfriend, despite being accused of being a playboy, was honestly a walking green flag in my opinion — supportive, caring, genuinely a really good partner, and by thai BL standards that’s not even a green flag anymore, that’s a whole green forest.

also i need to add that the last 12 minutes of the final episode almost got me with that tragic junji tone.. i thought i was gonna have to get mad and lower my rating, but they’re lucky they explained it in the end :D so it stays a 9. i think i’d gladly rewatch this someday!

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Love every seconds of this drama!

I didn’t have high expectations before start watching this drama. However, once I started I can’t stop. Once you watch it pass the scene when FL was shot, everything after that becomes much much more interesting.

This drama consists of each cases per episode and it’s so good, quirky and engaging. I love their comic art as well. Bold colors (wish I had a chance to read those comics for real not only a quick glance through the scene)

My most favorites episodes are the ones about a bakery shop and the sci-fi guy one. If you finished watching this, let me know which case is your fav!

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It could have been better

Our Youth isn't a bad drama. It's a perfectly decent watch, but it quickly went from "Oh this is interesting" to "Oh. Okay." for me.

My main gripe with the story is that Minase wasn't really allowed to be a person. As a pov character he felt more like a blank slate than anything. We're told that his grades matter but he never gets in trouble for slacking. We're told that it's bad that his grades are getting lower but nothing comes out of it at all. We're told that he doesn't want to go abroad to study, but he ends up going anyway and we don't see his feelings on going after all. He gets no new friendships or relationships and doesn't grow as a person in the five years we don't get to see.

Haruki gets development. He gets to decide to not be like his father, he gets to choose to go to school, he gets to choose when the relationship starts and ends. Minase is passive throughout it all. The plot happens at him but nothing changes. He still gets the job his mom wants, he doesn't get a better relationship with his father, we're told his parents' divorce weighs on him but that's all. Nothing happens to him that isn't Haruki, he doesn't fight for what he wants and he doesn't overcome his outsider pov of his own life. He's a vessel for Haruki's story and character growth, that's about it.

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Looks Gorgeous But Lacks Soul

This is one of those dramas where I kept sitting there thinking “this should be hitting harder than this.” Because it IS visually stunning. The cast ,on paper, should work perfectly. A modern monarchy setting is also right up my alley. AND YET somehow there’s this weird emptiness to the show that I just can't quite understand.

That being said, it’s still pretty decent and I am enjoying it overall but it's mainly due to it's airing schedule, the glamour of the royal settings and the very very pretty leads. I just wish I felt more excitement for it.

On a positive note though, I’m obsessed with the Queen Mother, Gong Seung Yeon. She's the definition of a scene stealer for me. Her acting is incredible and she feels like one of the only characters in the show that truly feels fully alive and multifaceted. The actress brings so much weight and nuance to even the smallest moments that I genuinely believe her station and her background. Incredible. Same goes for her father honestly. He’s one of those actors where the second he appears on screen you already know you’re about to get a solid performance and always have this sense of impending doom, bc boy does he play evil characters well

Actually, the supporting cast in general is carrying this show on their backs a little bit. They’re all such familiar faces and everyone is doing a genuinely wonderful job. Aid Hyeon’s actor Yoo Soo Bin continues to be one of my all time favorites because he NEVER misses for me. Secretary Do was also insanely charismatic. And I-an’s residence staff were true icons. Especially Butler Kim. He was such fun person that I'm actually a bit dissapointed that we haven't seen much of him past the halfway mark of the drama.

Mr. Prime Minister...Noh Sang Hyun, now HE is definitely on my nice list, because he's done a very good job here. I can feel his charisma and he carries himself so well. Incredible casting. The Queen Mother and him are the saving grace of this drama for me tbh.

My only issue with his character is probably the love triangle. It just felt very bland and unnecessary.

Now for the leads themselves;

I’ve seen people absolutely tearing Byeon Woo-seok apart online because of his acting here and honestly… I don’t FULLY agree. However, I do think that there are scenes where he could’ve done better, because I do feel a sort of emotional disconnect with I-an as a character. But I also think people are ignoring the type of character he’s playing. His cold demeanour can actually serve a purpose. Now I don't know if this was an intentional choice or pure serendipity, but I personally couldn't care less. It worked for me.

I-an is literally a grand prince raised under constant scrutiny since birth. A man who has probably never had the luxury of expressing himself freely for a moment. So of course he’s restrained. Of course his default expression is going to be more muted. This is someone raised in an environment where every facial expression could be judged, analyzed, weaponized. So while I do think there are moments that lacked impact, I can also understand why the performance is more controlled. I also think that his crying scenes were pretty well done. All that said, there is room for improvemet but this was definitely not BWS's best work.

My REAL enemy in this drama is his wardrobe. Why are they dressing this man like a royal bathrobe salesman?? Those horrific robe like lapels haunt me. It’s always the SAME suit in slightly different variations and I genuinely don’t understand why the styling team refused to have fun with the royal concept. They could have done SO much. I don't even want to talk about the banquet look because why are we suddenly in....western.... military....attire...why...

Now for IU. I'm afraid she has the same frozen face as BWS during most scenes, HOWEVER, I’ve always liked her acting style that leans slightly comedic and this role feels very comfortable for her. I also thought her delivery during emotional scenes were pretty solid. The comedic moments especially remind me a lot of Jang Man Wol from Hotel del Luna, which I personally love because that’s still one of my favorite performances from her. Again, it could have been better but it's not bad enough to make me mad, i just don't really feel any strong emotions.

I’m also enjoying Heeju as a character so far. I like her emotional progression and I WAS super seated her to absolutely turn the palace upside down and yet................nothing. We've spent so much unnecessary time on plotlines that had so little impact. The first half of the show is honestly a much better drama and Heejo as a character feels much more alive there. She could have been such a force.

I’m also really curious about her relationship with her father because I can already see the setup for the inevitable “he secretly cared all along” reveal. But I’m sorry… I genuinely do not care. You cannot emotionally terrorize your child for years and expect me to clap because you loved her secretly deep down inside. How you treat someone to their face matters. The emotional damage is already done my dude. BYE.

Now that I’m nearing the later episodes, I think my biggest issue is that the drama struggles with impact.

Major moments that should feel monumental just… don’t.

I-an's big move should have had me stressed. The reactions from everyone around him should have carried more weight and yet, a moment that is perhaps one of the most monumental events in the show fell extremely flat. I FELT NOTHING. Even the emotional progression between him and Heeju, especially when they finally take that final step toward each other, felt strangely muted. And I genuinely can’t tell if this is a directing issue, an editing issue, an acting issue or something missing from the script itself, but the emotional payoff just isn’t landing the way it should.

Episode 10’s ending is probably the clearest example of this. That moment should have either been laced with more tension beforehand or it should have totally come out of left field. And yet..all I felt was boredom because it was just SO predictable.

Similarly with episode 11, there were so many moments that needed more of a pause and yet the show just failed to capture it's momentum, which is such a shame. The only positive part was that we got to see a bit more of Heeju taking control; however, because the scenes were all cut so short, even this lacked the desired impact.

Even the overarching theme of "class" that the show attempted to explore fell short. I think the dramas team failed to really explore this to it's actual potential and just kept it surface level, sadly much like the rest of the show.

And that’s honestly my overall issue with the show.

It looks beautiful but somewhere underneath all the gorgeous cinematography and expensive looking sets, it feels like the drama is missing it's soul.

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Mediocre Drama

Mediocre drama probably watched and probably going to be saved by Dylan Wang fangirls(given the high rating here) . One of the most disappointing dramas I have seen in a long while. An utter waste of excellent actors all around.
There was ZERO reason for RFX to die. ZERO. And the whole plot and mastermind is revealed in the last 2 episodes? WHAT IS THAT BS.
The drama made the Chinese police looks like Korean police in Kdrama, all because of the story. In the words of certain someone from the drama "We are all trying here" I now proclaim the director of this drama and everyone related in producing the plot as 'Watermelon Licker'.
Overall, disappointed, I was actually excited to watch Pan Yueming and Wang Hedi to work together, the whole death of RFX and slowballing of the drama completely killed the vibe, and then I was on sunken ship fallacy to see if there was anything salvageable, never got better, was also looking forward to see the FL since I watched her in Hold a court and was impressed by her acting.

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