This was a transition drama for us - something we watched after finishing a series, then we had to watch something short while waiting for the series we wanted to start airing. In a way, this felt more like a chore for us than entertainment. But at least we didn't drop it. :)
Plot
Spring of Youth tells the story of Sa Gye (Ha Yoo Joon), a member of a Kpop group, The Crown. Sa Gye gets involved in a controversy when he attacked Mr. Jo (Jo Han Chul of Juror 8, Love Next Door, Gyeongseong Creature, Reborn Rich, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, Jirisan, Vincenzo, Romance is a Bonus Book, and The Producers) the owner of the agency (Jo & Jo) managing his group. Sa Gye was asked to lie low from the band (which was just an excuse to kick him out eventually). In the meantime, he enrolls in a university where he meets music loving student Kim Bom (Park Ji Hu). There's a strange connection between Bom and Sa Gye that neither of them can explain.
Bom is friends and bandmates with Seo Tae Yang (Lee Seung Hyub of Love Next Door, Lovely Runner, and Nevertheless), a guy who likes her. Tae Yang is a frustrated musician who was supposed to be The Crown's first member but had to give up his slot to enter med school due to pressure from his surgeon dad Dr. Seo (Kim Jong Tae of Forecasting Love and Weather, The World of the Married, One Spring Night, Encounter, and Something in the Rain), who happens to be Mr. Jo's business partner in Jo & Jo.
Bom lives with his aunt (Cha Chung Hwa of Train to Busan, See You in My 19th Life, Cleaning Up, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, Hospital Playlist 2, Itaewon Class, and Crash Landing on You) and cousin Gyu Ri (Seo Hye Won of When Life Gives You Tangerines, Lovely Runner, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Jirisan, and Nevertheless). Gyu Ri gets involved romantically with Jin Gu (Kim Sun Min), also a bandmate of Bom.
The story takes us through how the lives of these "strangers" are actually more interconnected and overlapping than they think, especially as the mystery behind the death of Bom's mom (Cha Yu Jin of Our Blues, and Hospital Playlist 1 and 2) unravels and how Sa Gye figures in all of these.
Characters
Ha Yoo Joon looked so Kpop, which made him perfect as Sa Gye. I didn't like him when he was still a pop star because he was so obnoxious. But I did feel a bit of love for him when he was down. Sa Gye was overflowing with positivity despite his misfortunes. And it felt real so that made me sympathize with him more.
Park Ji Hu was cute as Kim Bom. I initially loved her passion for music and her unrelenting quest for justice. But she lost me in the end with all of her misplaced anger, which I'll talk about later.
I probably knew this in the past because it's not the first time we watched Lee Seung Hyub, but I was still surprised to know that he's part of a rap rock band. That probably explains why he appears musical but not as Kpop as Ha Yoo Joon. I have to admit though that I only remember him from Love Next Door, and I was not so fond of him there. So I'd consider his role as Tae Yang as the most substantial and probably his best performance so far. He was perfect as the extremely angsty Tae Yang who only has a soft spot for Bom.
Execution
Okay, let's get this out of the way first. Sa Gye has been having these weird visions that led him to attack Mr. Jo. Where were these illusions coming from? Well, Sa Gye suffered an accident around the time Bom's mom died. He needed a corneal transplant and as fate would have it, he got the eyes of Bom's mom. Since then, he's been having visions of what we later figure out as the accident that killed Bom's mom. This is also probably the reason why he was destined to meet Bom. And as things become clearer, it's revealed that Mr. Jo was the drunk driver who crashed into the car of Bom's mom. And Dr. Seo was his passenger who refused to help the victim. So yep, that made the show quite dark and supernatural and while I was not a huge fan of that storyline, I somehow credit that as the reason why I watched the show until the end.
One of my issues with the show is how things tended to be over the top or how almost everyone seemed to overreact. Which is such a waste because this drama had a stellar veteran support cast. I don't know if that's just the way the show was written or if it was a direction problem. On top of my list are Bom's mom and cousin. Then you have all those times Tae Yang and Sa Gye were assaulting and hating on each other. And the corny band wars. And Gyu Ri's heartbreak when she found out there was something between Sa Gye and Bom. And how Jin Gu and Bom's aunt were interrogating each other when someone stole Sa Gye's money.
In some other drama, I would probably complain about how everything seemed too coincidental like Sa Gye renting a room in Bom's house or Sa Gye seeing Tae Yang just as the latter was about to hurt himself. But I'd let that go knowing how these fateful encounters were necessary to move the story forward.
But I guess I can complain about the illogical stuff. Like how real pipes seemed to have been used during the rehearsal that injured Sa Gye. Or how Sa Gye was allowed to stay in the university if he can get 300 signatures of his supporters. Or that band performance outside the hospital after they "abducted" Tae Yang from confinement. Or Bom's aunt selling Sa Gye's stuff and fans ransacking their house. Or the police calling Bom about a new witness to her mom's accident without verifying everything first. Or how Sa Gye's former manager (Han Jin Hee) who was so close and appears indebted to him, stole the money he gave Sa Gye when the latter was kicked out of The Crown. That totally did not make sense given the supposed depth of their relationship. I also found Ms. Jo's (Han Yu Eun) physical advances on Tae Yang quite off. And all the times Tae Yang and Bom were able to talk in private in public places even if in the scene just before that, reporters and fans would be hounding Tae Yang. Or that time Bom helped Sa Gye with his deliveries as a part-time food delivery guy where Bom knew exactly where to deliver the orders without asking or being told. And all that drama about Jin Gu's identity. Or how amateur Dr. Seo and Mr. Jo were in talking about their crimes aloud, that Tae Yang figured out the story complete with the names of the people involved.
To be fair, the show had its moments too. I liked its "attack" on the entertainment industry - how newbies like Bom were exploited, or how one little scandal can ruin a star and how the agencies tasked to protect their own celebrities even take the lead in bullying their own talents when they're no longer useful like Sa Gye.
The band composed of the main cast was not bad. I wasn't a fan of the love triangle involving Sa Gye, Bom, and Tae Yang. And I found the formation of the band quite circuitous but I guess that made their journey more engaging and interesting. And while I was also not a fan of the rivalry between The Crown with Tae Yang as the lead and his former band with Sa Gye and Bom, I liked that mashup of See You Later the stolen version versus the original one with rap on the side. And I loved that sneaky and clever thing that Bom's band did when they only revealed their faces after their cover of See You Later reached a certain number of likes to avoid the Sa Gye backlash.
I also felt that the scene where Bom realized that Sa Gye had her mom's eyes was sweet and heartfelt. And the show did quite a good job in making me anticipate the ending with its exciting and cliffhanger penultimate episode.
Unfortunately, the show was not able to build on that momentum in the finale. The electrocution plan was too risky for me because there's a huge chance that someone else will use he mic before Sa Gye does. And I suppose it would involve something more complex than merely replacing the mic (wires/cables need to be involved too, right?). Then you have the detective taking Sa Gye's word (without any evidence whatsoever) that the studio accident was related to the incident that killed Bom's mom.
It was also wild that Sa Gye's former manager who was beaten up by Mr. Jo's hitman (Kim Seo Ha of She Would Never Know and Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo) was still able to catch that same hitman as he was fleeing in a motorcycle.
I also found it out of character for Dr. Seo to agree to Tae Yang's demand that he confess to and pay for his crimes. He could have agreed when Tae Yang was on the verge of jumping off that cliff but he could have wavered later on. After all, he appeared more evil than Mr. Jo.
And of course, that wild chaotic scene at the police station where the hitman spewed lies about Sa Gye asking him to fake the accident, which was seconded by Ms. Jo and Mr. Jo thought he was off the hook, only for Dr. Seo to appear and reveal everything.
Over all, the final episode seemed rushed. Surely they could have cut some parts and used around two episodes to wrap things up. In the end everything felt quite contrived. Like Bom's meltdown after she found out the truth complete with epileptic-like shaking compounded by her misplaced anger on Sa Gye for not telling her the truth sooner. We did hear that punishments were meted out and Jo & Jo went down but we didn't really get a clear picture of how exactly Mr. Jo and Dr. Seo were penalized.
Then you have everyone leaving - Bom to the US to become a popular songwriter, Sa Gye to the military, and Tae Yang to volunteer for an NGO overseas. Then you have Sa Gye's mom reappearing probably to justify how he sent all those side dishes to Bom in the US. And all those reunions - between Bom and Tae Yang where she told him to find peace as her mom told her in a dream, between Sa Gye and Tae Yang where the former told the latter he looked good in a white coat and a guitar and Sa Gye gave him a USB drive with photos and videos of their moments together. Then Jin Gu and Gyu Ri's relationship and the reaction of Gyu Ri's mom when she found out. And of course that "coincidental" meeting between Bom and Sa Gye at the university where she started out lashing out at him about everything again - the necklace he returned, for not reaching out, and how he was still her talent. *sigh*
I guess all these feelings boil down to how I didn't really feel genuine connections among the characters. That's why I couldn't really get myself to love it even if it had great actors and good moments.
Oppa says...3.4.
Noona says...3.9.