The first episode of this drama is point blank amazing. It sets up a really good story with a strong female lead. I expected this show to stay that way, to stay just as engaging as the first... but it didn't

Our Blooming Youth leans more towards a political mystery than an action. I expected a lot more fighting from the female lead since she was really good at it in the first episode. Her character is just weird to me, she is supposed to be really good at solving mysteries but the way the audience knows that is pretty dull. They just say she did it with her father and was good at it, there barely is any flashbacks to her life with her family. That is an issue.

Min Jae Yi wants to find the culprit behind her fathers murder. For some reason that is intertwined with the crown prince because of a letter she got. The letter tells her to protect the crown prince and her father does as well as she's dying. She has to disguise herself as a male to not get caught and to investigate. So that was what I can tell after the first few episodes, and now onto episode 14 it is the same thing. She is still disguised and the progress is really slow. The more I watched the more annoyed I became of her character. She does a lot of talking where it sounds like complaining or whining… at the beginning she wielded a sword and was super cool- what now? Where did that go? She just talked and confronts people.. from an outside perspective she clearly would be annoying.. it hurts because she CAN fight. But there is little to no action here and it comes in abrupt spurts.

Of course this is all my opinion. But come on now, I can't help but compare. Shows with. a mystery driven plot can do well, and they are able to be engaging. The whole disguise and mystery aren't working because the build up was so poor. They don't have any flashbacks of Min Jae Yi being young and showing how she cares for her family, there is no threat to her because in the end I know she is a main character and there will be no harm. The steaks for their mission to find the culprit is so low and lost. A lot of this drama is filler scenes with the main gang hanging out... crown prince, Min Jae, her maid friend, her maid friend teacher.

It was ok at first, but it slowly made me become so bored. I am not stupid and I can understand what is going on. I watched 50 episodes of the Untamed and knew all the characters names, convictions, why they did what they did, the mystery. The Untamed just did it right. It engaged me because it took a careful setup to show why these characters are doing what they are doing without telling you. I wish Min Jae's character took time to reflect on the deaths of her family, they could have developed them as characters rather than them being dead. That way I would want to find out just as much as she did, I would have a reason to care. Right now it is just the plot. Her family is dead and she loves them just because. I mean of course they are her family but they could show that bond between them and show how much it pains her to have it cut off rather than having the audience make it up for themselves.

Straight up some characters don't need as much time and time is wasted on them. The teacher friend guy in the pink outfit is a comic relief and at this point the maid is to. The interesting characters like the crown prince really take a back seat. It is such a shame, the crown prince before him died- I mean they could have him feel guilt and shame. He does.. a little.. but the story goes and cuts to any other place but his.

He is involved with the mystery and is supposed to have a curse on him. I think the writers forgot about the curse after a few episodes. His arm works, he is just paranoid. It is fine but he is one dimensional, slowly being flattened by the writing. His relationship is supposed to be a blooming romance with Min Jae Yi, and they apparently were childhood friends? That whole plot thread serves no purpose whatsoever. It is just a cheap way to have a connection between them because there is no chemistry or spark.

Min Jae Yi liked who she was betrothed to (which is another interesting character I wish they would actually spend time on). They spend time on characters, but its all talking.. its so boring and is all over the place. I could know these characters names but I don't. It's not my fault and I am capable, but I shouldn't have to look things up and write things down when watching a drama. I don't hate the drama, I just am so disappointed.
Min Jae Yi kind of gets annoying because she isn't even doing what she wanted to in the first place. Half of the time its her looking worried and remembering and failing to remember, I don't really see her do anything.........

Park Hyung Sik's drama Happiness that I watched before this served him much better. Just watch that if you like him. He is cute and not cold, not saying he is bad at acting here. I just do not like his character. The crown prince is bipolar I swear, like he flips on a dime and has people he trusts and then doesn't trust. The only reason why is because he's paranoid.

Don't even get me started on the villain. The villain I do not even know the name of. He just wants power I think? He sucks as a character and a villain and a threat, he has done nothing other than probably killing Jae Yi's family and other people. But I don't care anymore.

I have to finish this drama because I'm almost done. Maybe its a slow burn. Then again a slow burn should be engaging. So I recommend to people that like political dramas and that's it? It's just boring and not doing what it is supposed to do. This is completely unbiased, maybe it's not my style. Still I have watched similar things... Iljimae is older but a much better revenge plot mystery drama, watch that instead. This show is so bland.

Now by the end of it I become so .. bored? I don’t know honestly. It felt like a satire and a disservice to the actors at the last episode. I’m talking about the twin brother plot line. That was so cheap because they didn’t show how this kid existed, that he was his brothers shadow. Like he was there as a plot device rather than a character and I could write a whole essay on why he is and how it could’ve been done better. They crammed so much but it still was watered down and I didn’t care. Now that’s just me. But this drama honestly isn’t all that it was cracked up to be. Maybe it’s because I expected more tension overall, romance wise, plot wise, it was just standard and compared to older historical dramas I’ve seen it didn’t have a lot of heart. It’s too bad honestly.

In the end good guy wins bad guy looses. Why are they good and bad though? You don’t get that- it’s just your main characters. That is all, no backstories further than what you knew at episode 2. The main group of characters don’t get developed and neither does the bad guy. That is how I sum this up. What about the curse? It’s not real. What about the family that was murdered? It’s just the bad guy that did it? Why? I don’t know because he’s bad … I’m sorry I’m trying my best here.

The reason why I am so harsh is because of the potential. There are parts where this show is good, but at the end I lost all interest that I don’t care. It’s a shame to me.