Our Beloved Summer(2021)

 

Our Beloved Summer(2021)

Genre:romance, comedy

Rating:5/5

Summary:

10 years ago, Choi Ung and Kook Yeon-soo filmed a high school documentary together. They despised each other and were sure that they would never meet again. Yet 10 years later, their documentary goes viral and their producer friend, Kim Ji-ung, makes them film a second season. Many things have happened during the ten years in between. Choi Ung and Kook Yeon-soo dated for the first half, and ended things quite badly for the rest. Choi Ung was ranked last place academically in high school, but he turns into a well known but anonymous artist. Kook Yeon-soo was first place, but is now an office worker in a small company. Yeon-soo is forced to meet Choi Ung after finding out he is the artist her clients requested for a project. During the filming of the documentary, they struggle with their feelings for each other. NJ, a famous idol who bought one of Choi Ung's artworks developed interest for him, while it is also revealed that Ji-ung took liking in Yeon-soo before Choi Ung. After a trip to the countryside, Choi Ung kisses Yeon-soo, but doesn't proceed to contact her after. Yeon-soo starts realizing that she still loves Choi-Ung, though unsure whether he has the same feelings for her. After a lot of miscommunication, they finally talk things over and get back together. However, they still face a few challenges, like Choi Ung wanting to go abroad for studies and Yeon-soo doesn't. They start learning about their own life as well as their relationship. Choi Ung decides to take a step out of his comfort zone and reach for something bigger. Yeon-soo begins to see how precious and wonderful her life has been and wants to cherish the small things in her life. The drama is not only about love, it is also about friendship, family and self-growth. 

My review:

This is a very calming drama with no dramatic storyline, and the characters are easy to relate to. No one is extremely 'good' or 'bad'. Although NJ seems like a third person in someone's relationship, she is very aware of her boundaries and has no desire to have Choi Ung to herself. I find her character very like-able, like a teenager with her first love. She also handles her mental state well. In one of the episodes, she holds a charity event with haters who made malicious comments about her. After overhearing them continue to make fun of her behind her back, she decides to sue them without hesitation. It really made me admire this character, because she is so young and innocent.

Kim Ji-ung is Choi Ung's childhood friend and the prodeucer for their second documentary. He struggles between his own love for Yeon-soo and his brother love for Choi Ung, and also his absent mother figure, who never really fulfilled a mother's duty, but came back all of a sudden, saying she was dying. Kim Ji-ung immerses himself with work whenever he is stressed-which is pretty often. He has always thought himself as the side character to everyone else's life but still yearns for some happiness of his own. I think he is a character most people would relate to. We are always wondering why others seem to have it easier, or what we did wrong to be so unfortunate. Ji-ung also finds a balance in his life. He films a documentary for his mother like she wished and found a pace he was comfortable with in his life. 

Choi Woo-shik and Kim Da-mi, the actor and actress who played Choi Ung and Kook Yeon-soo, had really good chemistry. Every moment they were together made my heart flutter with warmth. Their character's personalities are so different yet alike in many ways. Yeon-soo is ambitious whil Choi Ung likes to go with the flow, but they are equally as bad at showing affection to each other, often ending in miscommunication and bickering. It was obvious that they still had feelings for each other at the beginning, but both didn't want to make a further step. I remember Yeon-soo saying: "It didn't seem like Choi Ung. For one thing, I thought that Choi Ung would never change." It really made my heart ache to hear that. What was it like, looking at a person so distant yet so close? Like a stranger she knows too well. They both hid their desire for each other in their small gestures, just like they did when they were dating. Looking at the high school scenes, I don;'t think they have changed very much around each other. When they're together, it's like watching the high school kids come back to life. So pure and so happy. The last episode almost made me cry by how touching it was. Choi Ung had gone overseas to study, and he was calling Yeon-soo. Suddenly he told her he loved her, something she was always hoping to hear but never did. And then there he was, standing right behind her. There was never an explanation on why he never said it. Maybe it was because he was insecure about himself not being good enough for her, or maybe he wasn't good with words. 2 years later, Choi Ung and Yeon-soo are arranging books when they start to talk about when they first met, and then Choi Ung presents a drawing of her at their school opening ceremony. Choi Ung never drew people because he doesn't like drawing things that changed with time. It was the first time he drew a person, and that person was Yeon-soo. There were things that he would only show her, like she would only show her warm, bubbly and caring side to him. I think it made the perfect ending to the drama. The music was on point and really added a touch to the series. One of the songs, Christmas Tree, is sung by V from BTS, my favourite boy group, which was probably the main reason I decided to watch this drama. I was hooked by all the emotions felt while watching it and really recommend it to anyone who wants to watch something lighthearted and refreshing.