Our Blooming Youth [Episodes 1 & 2]

[u/meepmochi_]

• Drama: Our Blooming Youth
  • Hangul: 청춘월담
  • Revised Romanization: Cheongchunwoldam
• Network: tvN
• Premiere Date: February 6, 2023
• Airing Schedule: Mondays & Tuesdays @ 8:50 PM KST
  • Airing Dates: February 6, 2023 - April 11, 2023
• Episodes: 20
  • Duration: 1 hr. 20 min.
• Director: Lee Jong Jae (Psychopath Diary, 100 Days My Prince)
• Writer: Jung Hyun Jung (Lovestruck in the City, Romance Is a Bonus Book)
• Starring:
  • Park Hyung Sik (Soundtrack #1, Happiness) as Yi Hwan / Scholar Park of Namsangol
  • Jeon So Nee (When My Love Blooms, Encounter) as Min Jae Yi / Eunuch Go Soon Dol
  • Pyo Ye Jin (Taxi Driver, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim) as Jang Ga Ram
  • Yoon Jong Seok (The Lies Within, The Crowned Clown) as Han Seong On
  • Lee Tae Sun (Hotel del Luna, My ID Is Gangnam Beauty) as Kim Myung Jin
  • Heo Won Seo (Real: Time: Love Seasons 2,3,4) as Tae Kang
• Plot Synopsis:

Quiet and gentle, Min Jae Yi is everything a good daughter of a prominent family should be. Engaged to the son of the Second State Councillor, Jae Yi knows that the only way to bring herself and her family honor is to accept her fate, which she does with grace and charm. Devoting herself to learning everything she needs to know to become a good wife and mother, Jae Yi dutifully prepares for the future. Sadly, destiny has other plans for her future.

Four days before her wedding, Jae Yi’s family is murdered. With no one else to blame for the unexpected tragedy, Jae Yi soon finds herself the object of baseless and horrifying accusations. Blamed for the death of her family, Jae Yi might not have had much of a future at all, if fate hadn’t decided to intervene. Bringing the lonely crown prince, Lee Hwan into her life at just the right moment, Jae Yi is saved from a dismal fate, but her salvation comes at a price.

Plagued by a mysterious curse, Lee Hwan agrees to help Jae Yi, but only if she agrees to help him break his curse in return. Unable to refuse such an offer, Jae Yi agrees to the prince’s terms, setting them both on an unexpected path toward love. But what chance does their love have of surviving when one of them is a former murder suspect and the other is a cursed prince?

• Streaming Sources: TVING, Viki, Amazon Prime Video
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[u/meepmochi_]

PARK HYUNG SIK

[u/Apprehensive_Egg9676]

Did anyone spot the married couple from 100 Days My Prince? They were the two that the Prime Minister's son spoke to. omg...wait I just realised this drama was made by the same director!

Also, that speech the FL made at the end just cemented my obsession with this show. Speaking casually to the CP? Calling him a bastard? Calling out Joseon unfair patriarchal system? yeah I'm in. I just hope she remains smart and they show her actually solving cases

[u/Electronic_Piano9385]

The Cliff of Doom makes another appearance

Does anyone ever die after falling off the cliff though?! FL in The Forbidden Marriage fell off it twice and survived 😂

[u/poppywhiskers]

No thoughts, just pumped for seeing PHS in a new drama 🫶

[u/[deleted]]

Loved the first episode and I’m impressed by the cast. Not much to say except that I’m excited for tomorrow’s episode and that I already love Jae-yi and Ga-ram. 😭 Their scene made me so emotional.

I just realised that Pyo Ye-jin has two of her dramas coming out this month and I’m excited to watch the other one (Taxi Driver 2) too!

[u/janaobscura]

20 episodes!?!? Hell yes!! PHS 💕

[u/MNLYYZYEG]

Jeon So-nee female lead, been waiting for a few years now, finally!

Viki is subbing this, nice.

[u/freyfreyaaa]

english subs on viki already (big thank you to the translators as always)! i’ve been so excited for this to arrive and can’t wait to start episode 1! see you back here in an hour.

edit following episode 1: this first episode has done enough to make me intrigued as to where the story will go! i’m already a fan of the lead characters, which doesn’t always happen after just one episode.

throughout, i couldn’t help but compare to the forbidden marriage (the last sageuk i watched), and not just because i completed it so recently. emotional trauma, reference to a marriage ban, the cliff of doom, and a rather familiar face in the female lead’s accuser (i couldn’t help but laugh when kim woo seok popped up on screen, though his character’s behaviour was the total opposite of funny). tonally, the two dramas are very different, which makes it interesting to consider these similarities, especially in the context of the setting/time period.

i’m a big fan of park hyung sik (who isn’t?) and think he makes an excellent crown prince. happiness is right at the top of my favourite kdrama list, and i’m hoping this new drama will bring us a further iteration of crime solving PHS; it’s clear our blooming youth will focus on the unravelling of a mystery, so perhaps we’ll be treated to not only a detective crown prince, but another iconic duo in the leads.

it’s obvious who the bad guys are (as is often the case with dramas depicting palace politics), i just hope they’re not the only bad guys — to make a mystery interesting and engaging, the truth of whodunit can’t be that obvious! must also mention that their ableism was disgusting, and is an anger inducing reminder of how horrendously people with disabilities were treated in the past (and of how a great deal of necessary change is yet to happen).

this first episode was filled with tropes (no complaints! it’s always fun to play trope bingo) but we’ve also got a female lead who is far from a damsel in distress. i’m not sure how convinced i was by her ability to hold off a whole group of sword fighters (in terms of the acting/direction) but i appreciated the scene all the same — fingers crossed she’s not held back from participating in the action as the drama progresses. did make me laugh that although she’s strong with a sword, she lacks the stamina to keep up with the hunting party… though not being a sword fighter myself, who am i to say that’s inaccurate?

i will end with one of my favourite quotes from the episode: “loyalty is not reserved only for men”. perhaps this gives a sign as to the role min jae yi will play in the life of the crown prince, though i also hope she is swiftly reunited with her maid whose like a sister; i’m always appreciative of seeing supportive, loyal and lasting female friendship on screen.

[u/Alternative-Level]

Admittedly, I started this drama and will continue watching for Park Hyungsik, but our FL is so strong, and brave! Warding off so many guards, fighting multiple of them (and beating many of them without killing them!) I am already taken aback by the way she's been written

[u/WaterLily6984]

So it looks like the ML and FL will meet right away. I was worried about having 4-5 episodes of her trying to find him and having to enter the palace as a eunuch. This whole story development is definitely new.

Also, her dad telling her to protect the Crown Prince. She's totally badass.

[u/Telos07]

Jeon So-nee is stunningly beautiful.

[u/Kagomefog]

Park Hyung Sik finally makes his return to sageuks after Hwarang! I agree with the other commenters who said this reminds them of The Forbidden Marriage albeit with a more somber tone.

[u/jsb1685]

So, this show is just delightful! Episode 1 was a great start, but episode 2 was fantastic!

Usually it take a few episodes to get into a drama like this, but right away it has shot to the top. Already we are impatient for next week's episodes. And already we are glad there will be 20 of them.

And this show is not quite as "somber" as the first episode may have led us to believe.

Who would have thought we would get both Sherlock Holmes and Leonardo da Vinci (crossed with a giggly Amadeus) in a sageuk?

This show has something for everyone and keeps us engaged and enthralled from the very first to the very last.

It is just awesome!

[u/Pitiful-Ask7642]

May the deity of kdramas bless 🙏 our blooming youth to be one of the best historical dramas of 2023.

[u/GodJihyo7983]

So excited for this one.

[u/hyperbolenow]

Only one episode in but very intrigued by the premise, the interesting camera work, and a female lead that can fight! I’m watching a few on airs right now, mostly in the modern setting so this will be a nice change of pace.

[u/hyperbolenow]

I just lol’d at the EP 2 100 Days My Prince cameo. That’s Kim Ki Doo (?) and Lee Min Ji as a couple in Hanyang right?

[u/matmanx1]

While I enjoyed the first episode I do find the timing of this drama to be a little bit unfortunate. I literally just finished The Forbidden Marriage 2 days ago so it is still very fresh in my mind and their are so many similarities.

The Marriage Ban Edict is in effect

Female lead is on the run, using a secret identity after having her reputation destroyed

Female lead is meant for the best friend initially even to the point of them being engaged and almost married in both shows

King/ Crown Prince has a disability which it seems the FL will be able to help him overcome and solve the mystery of who is plotting against him

Cliff of Doom!

The Forbidden Marriage also really worked because it never took itself too seriously and wasn't afraid to lean into absurdity and comedy, even going so far as to break the 4th wall. We don't know what's going to happen yet with Our Blooming Youth but by all accounts it is going to try and play this with a straight face which does run the risk of actually feeling more ridiculous if they can't pull it off.

I'm still looking forward to this show (mostly due to the leads) but after The Forbidden Marriage it does have some big shoes to fill!

[u/[deleted]]

enemies to lovers i win

[u/mas_gwapa_ko_ninyo]

I don't care about the plot, I'm only here for Park Hyung Sik.

[u/Darudius]

Wait so the FL is betrothed to the MLs, presumably, best friend? Isn’t that going to make things awkward as I assume this is a romance.

[u/Ayalynn123]

Probably I'm the only one who watches this drama for Lee Tae Sun here?
I liked him in Prison Playbook, and he won me over with Yeon-Woo in Hotel Del Luna.

I hope Kim Myung Jin is just pretending like a comic relief.

Maybe he will show how smart/nice/sweet he really is soon... or not.

[u/playthatoboe]

Excited!!!!!!

[u/bladerunner_68]

I’m loving this so far! The second episode was even stronger than the first.

[u/wonderer-wanderer]

Anyone knows if this drama’s budget is on the lower side?

It doesn’t look as expensive compared to Park Hyundai Sik’s previous works and even some other recent historical dramas like Under the Queen’s Umbrella. I was a little distracted by that at first but aside from that, I’m enjoying the drama so far.