This drama has a little bit of everything I like in a drama, it has sweet, sweet flirting, bad ass woman, evil parents, corruption, conspiracy, war, confronting abelism, domestic violence, activism, forced marriage, sports, friendship... As well as tackling issues of inequality in every aspect of life. I especially loved the way this drama portrays the different consequences rich v.s poor people face for their activism and so called illegal actions and demonstrations a topic that never seems to get outdated (so are the others).
This drama has an amazing pace and build up. with every episode adding parts to the complexity of the situation and adding new dimension to the escalating conflict helping the the viewers to gradually get in to and understand the the plot. Not one single moment was boring and my ayes where more or less constantly moist.
I often (not always, and not only) judge a drama over its ability to ability to awaken my emotions and this one did just that I felt sorrow, angst, anger, suspense, fluffy inside (tho they did make me cringe once or twice) and made me fall competently in love with this cast. The acting here was top notch, and so was the writing making it feel real. There was not one single character with annoying dialog, mimics or flat no matter how small their side-part was (not guest rolls). I did of course want to knock some sense in to people, screamed nooooooo once or twice at the screen but that is to be expected.
The cinematography was gorgeous and the music fit perfectly as well So yes I loved it and I gave it 10 well deserved stars.
So... If you are more of the no romance war type or if you are looking for a fluffy happy romance move along there is nothing to see here.... But if you are a sucker for tragedy and fluff like me this is defiantly worth a watch.
P.S. I like the fluff too, especially after watching something like this i need to cleans my soul with some pure fluff before moving on.
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One of the saddest kdrama
A drama about the truth of Gwangju uprising. It breaks my heart that this drama happened in real life. The way they treated the people back then.The story is well writen.
The lives of the two leads is hard. They did everything to be happy together.
Almost every episode makes me cry. Myung Hee experienced a brutal death. They didnt even bury her or tell her family about her. She doesnt deserve that.
Lee Do Hyun's character also breaks my heart. The fact that he doesnt know where to find his woman. He waited alone for 48 years without knowing what really happened.
This drama is one of my fav drama even though I cried a river about the ending.
Prepare a tissue before watching this drama.
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A beautiful love story
It's definitely my favorite drama of 2021. Their love story is so beautiful, it reached deep into my heart. The actors portrayed their characters well to the point that it feels like I'm watching a real couple's life, instead of a K-Drama. Because of how good the actors' acting skills are, I can feel exactly what they're feeling when I watch the drama. When they're happy, I feel happy too. When they cry, I cry too. The OSTs are also very good and very poetic, if you look up the lyrics. I still have a hard time moving on from this drama even though it has been a few months since i finished it, I think a lot of Youth of May viewers also feel the same way as I do.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Too tragic for a drama. Made this into a docuseries instead?
Please forgive me, regional folks, this is not meant to disregard or disrespect your history and the tragic horrors behind it.This is more a reminder for me to never watch this again.
If I had read that this was so Tra gic, I would've never watched it.
If truly this particular romance was so tragic, I would've preferred to see the actual people, their real names, careers etc.
In short it could have been a true story or a true documentary which are made very aesthetically now.
To take history, put your own spin on it again is fine.
But to take history, put your own spin on it, heavily load it with beautiful romance and then kill the lead is like pulling the rug from under our feet and bring us crashing down, breaking our teeth, heart and everything else.
Not acceptable for me.
So yes, it was a tremendously beautiful drama - music, cinematography, costumes, hair make up etc of the '80s, and every actor was stupendous.......but sorry, the ending destroyed it.
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terrible main characters ruined a potentially good drama
I have been following this show since the day it started and now that i finished it i can say that this was one of the worst experiences of my life. I actually liked the first half of the show the setup for the romance seemed very interesting but as the show went on it just seemed stupid. Let's talk about what started to go wrong. Around halfway through the story myunghee and hee tae's "conflict" didn't even feel like a conflict at all because it would get resolved so easily and they'd get back together and the same thing got repeated over and over again so i really don't see any point of the conflict and not like the conflict was different it was the same thing just done too many times. Next, let's talk about how hee tae and myunghee are the most terrible and selfish people i have come across. When the gwangju uprising started they were busy trying to run away from that hospital even though they could clearly see how terrible the state of the country was and hee tae being a doctor and myunghee being a nurse just couldn't care less about any of that. Like that seemed very odd to me aren't main characters should be more empathetic than that? They didn't have any sense of humanity or responsibility in those trying times at all and it was actually very upsetting because these characters were shown as good, conscientious people from the beginning? Now let's talk about how myunghee was terrible to her dad and never even tried to understand his part of the story she just needed someone to blame for her dumb mistakes so she just took it out on his dad and i would have understood if his dad was a terrible person like herself but he seemed like someone who was trying to make it right. Then, let's talk about how myunghee didn't even care about her family all she cared about was her god forsaken romance with hee tae. When hee tae was kidnapped she literally kept acting like a brat and hence his dad and brother had to face the military which lead to his death but this whole time she literally didn't seem worried about them and didn't even cared that they got into all this because of her bratty behaviour but she was busy planning her marriage with hee tae. And all of this would have been understandable if they had some deeper romance going on they literally met each other 2 weeks ago and suddenly they want to risk it all for each other sorry but i am not buying that? Moreover, we kept seeing the side characters risking themselves so hee tae and myunghee can have a good life together which imo they don't deserve but myunghee and heetae didn't even care about anyone else but them. And they kept justifying that with bullshit reasoning that how being selfish is okay because they love each other? I wouldn't have any objection with them being selfish if these characters were originally like this and if the other supporting characters didn't act like they are they second coming of jesus but i think the show intented hee tae and myunghee to come across as good people which i really didn't see. Also the show couldn't wrap up anything well we don't know what happened to the side characters and a lot of things with that. Moreover, it is shown as hee tae is madly in love with her but he couldn't even bother to find myunghee's dead body and pay her respect? So yeah idek what to say anymore but that's what i think don't watch this terrible show.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Another Frustrating Romeo and Juliet Story
My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.Sorry, but I really hate Romeo and Juliet, so keep that in mind.
Acting/Cast: This is the first area that began nagging at me. I wasn't a fan of the female lead's acting. It felt stiff. Even the male lead's acting felt a bit stiff. Maybe it's a lack of chemistry between the leads. I was never able to fully get on board with their relationship. Really, they hardly know each other. I thought the side characters did good though. The strongest performance was probably from the 2nd female lead. The male lead's mom stands out to me too. 4.5/10
Writing: The drama started strong with an entertaining premise (although cliché). However, once the plot took a turn and became depressing and angsty, it quickly became frustrating and predictable as well. Yes, I get it's a tragedy, but the entire drama was just a bunch of characters continually making horrible decisions. If the plot requires a death of a major character, at least don't let the cause of their death be their own fault. It's not as much of a tear-jerking moment otherwise. I thought the second female lead ultimately had a more interesting story with a lot more potential (although she was pretty annoying in the first half), but unfortunately none of the plot points in her story were expounded. With her character, it was just dead end after dead end. She was even completely abandoned by the writers at the drama's conclusion in favor of the main storyline. Another issue I had with the writing was the plot line between the female lead and her father. It was predictable and unrealistic, which kept me from being able to connect with the female lead. Also, the male lead's father didn't make sense to me - a really abusive and seemingly psychotic, power hungry dude that sees his family members as objects, suddenly develops feelings and a sense of familial love. Throughout the entire drama they kept emphasizing how much he doesn't give a crap about them, so the sudden drastic change at the end left me trying to rationalize his behavior in my head. On a positive note, me favorite aspect of this drama was the storyline with the kids. I liked how their friendship developed as well as the character development of the male lead's little brother. Ugh...it's so frustrating because there were so many interesting facets that either weren't explored enough or weren't explored at all. 2/10
Direction/SFX/Music: This drama did have an old vibe to it, which seems completely intentional because it takes place in 1980. I don't like the style though. I loved Snowdrop, which takes place in 1987, and that drama feels like it has a much higher production value without feeling too modern. The OST is fine, but it's not my style either. 5/10
Entertainment Value: It was fairly entertaining. I had no desire to drop it, but I also put off finishing it and watched other dramas instead. I had a good idea of how it was going to play out, so I wasn't too bothered about finishing the drama quickly. I had a hard time connecting with the leads, but there were other characters that I was interested in. Too bad the writers weren't as interested in those other characters. In the first half of the drama, the leads were more compelling to watch, but in the second half everyone else became more compelling to watch. 4/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 4/10 mainly due to my hatred for Romeo and Juliet and how frustrating everything was. Oh gosh... the game of hot potato at the end with that damn watch was so annoying.
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Me causou um grande impacto
Youth of May foi uma escolha cega pra mim. Embarquei nesse drama porque amo obras históricas. De início, eu esperava por um melodrama, mas me enganei completamente: a história é veloz e dinâmica, a cada episódio cumpre o que promete sem enrolar. O que me encantou, desde o primeiro episódio, foram os dois protagonistas. Eu não esperava tanto carisma! O brilho nos olhos dos dois me pegou de jeito e suas personalidades capturaram minha atenção.Hee-Tae e Myung-Hee são dois batalhadores e TEIMOSOS (muito muito teimosos) jovens coreanos. Ele sonha em se tornar músico como sua falecida mãe, ela quer estudar no exterior e ter uma vida melhor. O drama começa com os dois fazendo de tudo para conquistar o que tanto querem. Nesse meio tempo, suas vidas se cruzam e é aí que a beleza da história começa: os dois juntos em cena são uma bomba. Sério, eu não sei como aguentei. Eu me DIVERTI TANTO com eles. Ainda estou impressionada com a química desses dois atores, que entregaram tanto. Desde a primeira cena, ficou claro pra mim que eu iria acompanhar aquele casal até o fim.
Com o desenvolvimento da história, logo a realidade bateu na minha porta: será que havia um final feliz esperando por Hee-Tae e Myung-Hee? Não vou contar se sim ou se não, mas já adianto: eles lutam por isso. A cada episódio, cada brecha do roteiro, lá estão os dois, superando as adversidades e se agarrando à mínima chance de felicidade. Não só eles, mas todos os jovens que viveram naquele maio. Aquelas pessoas acreditaram e berraram pela liberdade do país, mesmo quando os sonhos delas foram chutados e arremessados para longe. Quando parecia não ter esperança, elas ainda acreditaram.
Junto com eles, eu também acreditei até o fim.
Quanto ao Hee-Tae e Myung-Hee, para mim eles sempre serão um dos melhores casais de drama. Estou orgulhosa do quanto cresceram ao longo da história. Obrigada por serem teimosos e não abaixarem suas cabeças, meus jovens de maio. Meu coração se alegrou e chorou junto com vocês, acreditem❤️
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This reminds me of Titanic but with a weaker storyline
Youth of May is a 12-ep melodrama that follows a romance between a nurse and a son of a dictator. They fell in love during the Gwangju Uprising conflict, and because of their parent's background, their relationship gets complicated. This show has 12 episodes.What got me interested in Youth of May is the characters and their effort to overcome the conflict. Youth of May is absolutely what I would call a plot-driven show. There’s basically no breathing room to really feel comfortable, nor to get invested in a few of the relationships that were formed within the show.
The problem that stands out to me is the romance, yes even though I appreciate the actor's performance and their setup for this romance at first, the pair actually get together, and there's great tension, but no chemistry. As soon as they do get together, their relationship milestones and choices all seem mindless. I don't get why they act a certain way. Their story progression feels slow to me and I don't personally feel as connected with them.
The midpoint episodes were quite a drag for me to get through. I didn't find any character growth, nor did I enjoy watching them. Instead of dealing with the conflicts, the drama shows a lot of self-inflicted misery which contributes a little to the progressions of the story and makes me bored.
I found the ending so dissatisfying, I really felt nothing. In the last two episodes, I wasn't shocked by any of the climaxes, I wasn't sad, I was pretty emotionless because I could see that the show was ending and I just didn't care. It seems that Youth of May gains popularity due to the "based on real event“ cover, but the storyline is weak and unfocused so it doesn’t buy my sympathy. So my overall rating for Youth of May is 5.5/10
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I'M DEVASTATED
I love both of them so much and I'm never getting over them. Everyone deserves a guy like Heetae and Myunghee is my best girl. They were so in love and deserved better. I was annoyed with Myunghee's friend at start for not realising her privilege but good to see her character development. There little brothers were adorable. I hated his father urghhh. This drama was beautifully heartbreaking. May be in other life because they were simply to pure to not get a happy ending. To think there were real people who have went through such tragedies.....??Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
breathtaking and emotional
I think it's pretty clear from the start how there's going to be a tragic ending...Nevertheless the entire series was a piece of art. The shooting style as well as the overall tone the drama gave was so on point. I regret not educating myself more about the Gwangju Uprising and its history before watching this because then things would have made a lot more sense.The cast was impeccable...expected nothing less from the main leads Dohyun and Minsi (came from Sweet Home aha) as well as the second female lead (she did so well in Class of Lies). This drama felt similar to "When the Weather is Fine" where it was so relaxing and satisfying--until chaos strikes and nothing goes right. This melodrama was great depiction of reality merged with fiction. The harsh reality of what was politically going on especially amongst those who were hierarchically involved.
The joy and sorrow were expressed so well from the characters. I shed a few tears especially towards the ending episodes because the storyline was so moving. The OST played a big part in the success of the film. If you are someone who likes a nice drama with a peaceful and realistic vibe, definitely watch Youth of May.
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devastatingly beautiful
Youth of May is in many ways a traditional kdrama romance. It uses several common tropes of the industry and the romance genre. The first episodes, while sweet and silly, could be part of many other romances we've seen. The script and the acting are really strong, adding unique charm and flavour to each of these characters.
But this traditional aspect of the drama only makes what we know will come more immensely devastating. From the beginning, we know tragedy will strike, and if you're even remotely familiar with the history of the Gwangju Uprising, you know the extension of that tragedy. All of our characters, even with their unique stories and quirks, are common everyday people. Our protagonists fall in love, face drama and hardship, the prejudices of other people, and have to make tough choices as they grow up into adults. But in the middle of all of that, the uprising happens and the military is sent to Gwangju.
The series does an incredible job of showing the surprise and the betrayal the Gwangju felt at the time and provides no excuses for the brutality of the regime. And in relation to our protagonists, how historical events like this cut the life of people in two. As someone coming from a country with a recent history of state violence, what stayed with me the most was this. How our leads are just everyday young people, with a sweet romance, a bunch of things happening in their lives and the possibility of a future ahead. Suddenly history happens and nothing it's the same again.
My favourite thing about this series is how it makes multiple nods to how the story of our leads is tied to the story of so many people whose stories we don't know. How it's a romance but it's also an exercise in memory.
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