Review of My Youth / 마이 유스

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I’ve lived in Korea twice on prestigious language scholarship, and had the honor of briefly calling Anyang and Busan my homes temporarily at those points in my life, and I did my master’s thesis on Korean literature. I did briefly fall out of Korean studies and focused more on Pan-Asian studies, specifically Indian subcontinent laborers from Bengal/Bangladesh and how they ended up elsewhere, but Korea is a place that feels like home to me.

So recently when I started a new job after working remotely and for myself for the longest while, I was trying to find time to fit more of my interests in. I’ve been starting a lot of my book related blog posts off with discussing how I haven’t been reading as much since starting my job, which is a reality so many people face.

It’s a similar issue with my Korean dramas and movies as a whole. I’ve been trying to make creative ways to fit them in during the time I’m off of work, especially considering I still have somewhat of a social life on the weekends. Going out and balancing all of this has been hard, but very rewarding at the end of the day.

All of this is to say that Viki and Netflix have become my best friends in the world of Korean dramas. I don’t tend to watch them anywhere else, though I get the sense I might be forced to get a Kocowa subscription in the near future. We’ll see on that. Regardless, I watched shows like My Youth on Viki as they aired.

This review is going to come out much later than when I finished the show because of my life right now, but’s that alright! Just know I spent each week watching the new episodes drop one by one.

Let’s get into the review!

After a difficult childhood and acting career, a florist and writer finds love again with his first love.

Our male lead in this drama, and the one who find the most compelling out of all of the characters, is Sunwoo Hae. As an adult he works as a florist and owns his shop, putting out work as a writer on the side, but we learn fairly quickly that once upon a time he was someone very much in the limelight of fame.

He was a child actor that was popular in the shows and movies, but because of his parents and the people around him, he wasn’t living a high quality life. We see the impacts of what happened to him throughout the show, and it even becomes a driving force for conflict in the present moment as well, which is really unfortunate to see.

This show is kickstarted in terms of plot though when Seong Je-yeon appears in front of him one day. The daughter of a wealthy family, she had to learn to work hard and for herself when everything began crashing around her. She now is a team leader at an entertainment company, and she hasn’t seen Sunwoo in over a decade.

The more these two start interacting with each other, which is a bit awkward at first, the more it’s going to dig up their shared past together. Both of these characters have some issues to sort through, and while I’m not going to name who has bigger trauma, which seems a bit messed up to ever compare people’s trauma, reoccurring issues are going to emerge with the other being in their life.

As we see throughout the show they’re going to get together romantically—but not without some issues and bumps attempting to prevent them from loving each other—and that this is going to be a bit more of a slice of life and melodrama in some sense. If you’re looking for a show that has a lot of plot, I don’t know if this is the show for you.

I’ve been on a kick where I watch slower shows, and this definitely hit those vibes. Do I think it’s for everyone because of that? No, I can see some people I know declaring this to actually be quite boring. The twelve episodes contained within this series can feel a little long because of how narrative driven everything is, and it surely takes its time in getting to resolve certain conflicts and problems in the characters’ lives.

Overall Thoughts

In the previous section I was being very intentional about what I said about this show, as I think this one of those shows where if you want to discuss it fully, you need spoilers. I keep most of my television reviews relatively spoiler free, but I will say this is a show that is very much about the journey of healing and allowing yourself to open up to someone you used to know.

A lot can happen in ten years, and while this trope often makes me roll my eyes, I genuinely enjoyed seeing both of these characters come alive on the screen. I think both actors did an excellent job with the material, and while this might not be everyone’s cup of tea in the end, I liked this show a lot.

It resonated with me in certain ways too, especially when it came to how these characters struggled. Sure, I’m not from a wealthy family or was a successful child actor who was screwed over by the adults in my life, but I can see the perspective of wanting to prove yourself in the world, working hard, or even taking a step back and becoming a florist. That’s actually my dream job!

All of this is to say: give this show a chance if it interests you. Give it two episodes and see if it’s your cup of tea. At least you tried then!

Follow me below on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Goodreads for more.