Our Beloved Summer (2021) - Kdrama Review
-May contain major spoilers-
 |
| Photo source: SBS |
Our Beloved Summer (그 해 우리는 literally: That Year We) is a 16-episode SBS romantic comedy Kdrama starring Choi Woo-Shik, Kim Da-Mi, Kim Sung-Cheol and Roh Jeung-Eui.
Summary
A documentary that pairs the best and worst students of a high school suddenly goes viral on the internet 10 years after it was filmed. The protagonists of that documentary are Kook Yeon-Soo (Kim Da-Mi), the top student, who has a harsh personality, is very serious, ill-tempered, and strives to keep on being the top student and Choi Ung (Choi Woo-Shik), the worst student, who is an introvert, is childish and spends his time reading, drawing or sleeping. Yeon-Soo and Ung's personalities are exactly the opposite, so they get along like cats and dogs and are always having petty fights.
Now, as an adult, Yeon-Soo works at a PR firm and, to secure a contract, has to find the famous illustrator "Ko-Ho," whose true identity is a mystery. Meanwhile, Ung lives a carefree, peaceful life and is a homebody.
Ung's best friend and former classmate, Kim Ji-Ung (Kim Sung-Cheol), who works as a PD, gets asked to produce a new documentary that follows up on Ung and Yeon-Soo 10 years later. However, there is a problem with the "stars," right after finishing the first documentary, Yeon-Soo and Ung dated for 5 years and had a bitter breakup.
Yeon-Soo search for the mysterious "Ko-Ho" leads her towards Ung who at first refuses to cooperate but ends up accepting the work.
Ji-Ung agrees to work on the new documentary; but has to convince Ung and Yeon-Soo. The top idol NJ (Roh Jeong-Eui) -she is like the IU of Our Beloved Summer- shows interest in Ung as an artist and something more, while Yeon-Soo and Ung have to work on their unresolved feelings...
Thoughts
Our Beloved Summer is a Kdrama that does a great job showcasing the relationship dynamics and growth of a broken-up couple. This Kdrama might feel ultra slow-paced at times but is not annoying. I love how Our Beloved Summer emphasizes that each story has two different points of view (or sometimes more).
I like that the name of each episode refers to a movie; it's such a cute detail ❤.
The acting is wonderful, and the leads of this Kdrama have one of the best character growths that I have seen -in a Kdrama-. I really like how different Yeon-Soo is as a character, and Kim Da-Mi did a great job portraying her; Yeon-Soo is super stubborn, and to be sincere, she was sort of annoying when she was dating Ung during college, but I understand why she was that way. Choi Woo-Shik also did a great job portraying Ung, taking out the made-for-laughs moments, his character felt the most realistic. The chemistry between Choi Woo-Shik and Kim Da-Mi is fantastic. I had previously seen them together in the movie The Witch. Although that movie is not my cup of tea, I really liked the interactions between their characters, so I was happy when Our Beloved Summer was announced.
I like how Ji-Ung also has character development and also how [SPOILER] he never confesses his feelings towards Yeon-Soo [SPOILER ENDS].
I felt like the character of NJ was unnecessary, but at the same time, the character feels wasted as she has less appearance time towards the end.
My favorite side characters were Ung parents, Choi Ho (Park Won-Sang) and Lee Yeon-Ok (Seo Jeong-Yeon), and Yeon-Soo's grandma Kang Ja-Kyung (Cha Mi-Kyung).
The OST is nice. My favorite songs are "Why" by Janet Suhh, "Maybe If" (우리가 헤어져야 했던 이유) by Bibi, and "Christmas Tree" by BTS V.
I recommend this Kdrama if you like stories about exes, great chemistry between the leads, good character growth, and really good cinematography.
Rating
Acting - 10/10
Plot - 9/10
Romance - 10/10
Soundtrack - 8/10
Cinematography - 10/10
Overall Rating - 9.5/10
Extended Drama Info.
Quantity of Episodes: 16.
Run Time: 60-70min/each.
Release Date: December 6, 2021.
Network: SBS.
Directed by: Kim Yoon-Jin.
Written by: Lee Na-Eun.
Music by: Nam Hye-Seung.
Starring: Kim Da-Mi, Choi Woo-Shik, Kim Sung-Cheol and Roh Jeong-Eui with Ahn Dong-Goo, Park Jin-Joo, Park Won-Sang, Seo Jeong-Yeon and Cha Mi-Kyung.
Comments
Post a Comment