Review: Age of Youth (2016 TV Series)

Sunday, December 11, 2016
Saw this one a bit after seeing Ode to Joy, and I wanted a light-hearted girly TV fix. After it was done, it was anything but “light.”Dare I say it was my fave South Korean series of 2016? Yes, I dare say so! It’s SO well done, it’s ridiculous!


The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

The Rundown
Behind the name: The perfect name for the coming of age of young women
Country: South Korea, 2016
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Coming of Age
Network: JTBC
Director: Lee Tae-Gon
Writer: Park Yeon-Sun
Cast: Han Ye-Ri (as Yoon Jin-Myung), Hwa Young (as Kang Yi-Na), Han Seung-Yeon (as (Jung Ye-Eun), Park Eun-Bin (as Song Ji-Won), and Park Hye-Soo (as Yoo Eun-Jae)
                  Compare to: Ode to Joy
                  Hate it or Love it?  Love it! Very Much!


Synopsis in a Sentence: Five girls’ lives cross paths in a “shared house” and they all get into one another’s business—two of them are murderers (maybe three), the other’s an insecure girlfriend in an abusive relationship and another’s forever alone—can they help fix one one another’s issues?  
           
On Writing: The Plot
The plot is everything! It’s so good, it’s exceptional! It’s layered and complex and multi dimensional and intriguing and fun, and like I said, everything!
Love, love, love the story of these five, very different young ladies. The characters are relatable, and most of all, their stories are real! In every episode there were scenes so real and relatable.
The plot’s also deep, as it deals with too-real-for-TV drama, and very relevant social issues, including abuse, death, young prostitution (even male prostitution), sex and family secrets, while managing to maintain a didactic outlook without the preachy righteousness of any specific moral leanings, all with a comedic twist. Very, very excellently done! 
And a thousand cheers to the writer, Park Yun-Sun, this is absolutely one of the best TV stories I’ve seen in my life! The writing is excellent and deep and playful and complex and light-hearted and true-to-life all at the same time. It’s unlike anything seen on South Korean TV in the last decade. Gorgeous, gorgeous work! 
 (4.75/5)


On Acting: The Cast
The cast is beautiful and we just can’t quite get enough of the characters’ quirks and cuteness!
We are first introduced to Park Hye-Soo, as Yoo Eun-Jae in the series and she’s so apprehensive and shy and modest that we can all relate to her at least once in our lives. We watch “The Shy One” become stronger, grow and even blow up a few times in the series, and she’s a great actress for portraying all these emotions so well. There is also much, much more to her character than meets the eye, but you’ll have to watch the series to discover that!
Next, we meet Han Seung-Yeon, who plays Jung Ye-Eun, the “Boyfriend-Obsessed,” almost-has-it-all girl with an adorable boyfriend, but we are almost immediately introduced to her insecurities, masking itself under meanness and feigned kindness. Han actually comes from the girl group, Kara, and it’s a delight to watch her here as she’s absolutely convincing!
Kang Yi-Na, “The Hot One,” is Park Eun-Bin in real life and we love the way she portrayed her fearlessly confident, smoking hot, loose, reckless, irresponsible and kind character. Park makes the typically hated role completely relatable and she’s a star for making that possible!
Arguably the coolest, Han Ye-Ri defines Yoon Jin-Myung’s character in the series, who is “The Tough One.” Han is to hard-shell, icy cold, and yet so relatable it’s amazing. She highlights the enduring spirit of her character that we’re inspired not to give up on life! A fabulous, fabulous job!
Finally, we get to know Hwa Young through Song Ji-Won’s character in the series. Hwa is “The Awkward Loner,” and Hwa is her in this series. We can totally relate to the her friendzonability, but her character soon proves to be the binding agent to this deep friendship, and Hwa does more than well through Ji-Won’s character
An overall great cast! Can’t wait to see this promising group of actresses in other series! Manse!
 (4.5/5)


On Production: The Creativity
Production is—dare I say—the star of the series. The entire story, despite its fabulously talented cast and its excellent plot, could have easily been a flop with rubbish production. But with editing, transitions, music, shots et al, this one is pure gold!
The opening shots are gorgeously, artfully, perfectly done; I’ve really never seen anything like it, especially in South Korean cinema! The opening themes are a production of thematic videos beautifully edited together to set the tone for the start of each episode. Production really is artful and absolutely gorgeous!
Transitions are so beautiful and meaningful and… oh gosh, I could gush forever, but honestly, exceptional work on the creative front!
(4.75/5)                                             

On Resolution: The Conclusion
The saddest thing is that the series ends only after 12 episodes! What a travesty! A production like this should go on for at least 20, or 24 if possible. But we know not all TV stations can afford the budget, so we are at least glad we get to see a production like Age of Youth at all. Great job everyone! And the ending is just as good too!
(4.5/5)

The Verdict: An absolute must watch! Even for you, guys!  

-->
Overall Score = 18.5/20


WATCH Age of Youth: https://www.viki.com/tv/32334c-age-of-youth?locale=en

0 comments

Post a Comment