How many dramas that focused on brotherhood or bromance theme?
It’s quite a lot and we can easily name some of them. But, how many dramas that
talked about sisterhood or female friendship?
Compared to male friendship, there aren’t many Korean dramas that
focused on female friendship. Most female characters in Korean dramas showed as
rival that often fight in love in career. This is quite saddening because male
characters portrayal can go beyond that.
JTBC tries to fill the lack of female friendship theme in Korean dramas
with Age of Youth. It’s a 12-episode
drama about the relationship between different girls under one roof. Are you
curious to know more? Here is my review for Age of Youth…………....................................................................
Age of Youth tells a story about five college girls who live in
Belle Epoque guesthouse. The first girl is Yoo Eun Jae (Park Hye Soo) who just
started to live in Belle Epoque. Eun Jae is a shy girl and she finds it hard in
expressing her feeling to other people.
The second girl is Jung Ye Eun (Han Seung Yeon) who is a straight
up trendy girl with cheerful personality. Ye Eun is very loyal and attached to
her boyfriend. Meanwhile the third girl, Song Ji Won (Park Eun Bin) has trouble
in finding boyfriend. Ji Won has a quirky and blunt personality.
The fourth girl, Yoon Jin Myung (Han Ye Ri) is a quite and tough
girl. Jin Myung is busy to earn a living through multiple part-time jobs. The
last girl is Kang Yi Na (Ryu Hwa Young) who is sexy and sassy. Yi Na is
everyone objects of desire as well as envy.
Age of Youth tells a story about these girls’ everyday life and
their interaction. Everything is not always easy for them because their
personality often clashes. Also, each of them has their own dark secrets and it
slowly comes up.
The Belle Epoque girls’ dynamic is the main focus of the story.
Writer Park Yeon Sun nailed it again
after doing drama about young boys relationship through White Christmas in 2011. Each girl’s issue directly affects their
relationship. Belle Epoque girls different habit and principal creates a clash
within each other through there is no real villain between them.
But at the end, Belle Epoque girls will always comfort each other
and have their backs. It’s a great emotional approach. It makes us feel closer
to them and root for their happiness. Plus, the casts have great chemistry. It
feels like they are real roommates!
Each girl’s everyday issues and their own characters are also
relatable. Their problems seem familiar while the characters often being found
in real life.
Age of Youth also supported by good casts. They give life to each
of Belle Epoque girls, which makes them able to shine. Special credit goes for
Han Ye Ri. She successfully portrayed the complex Yoon Jin Myung. Her breaking
down scene hits me because it seems really vulnerable.
Age of Youth presents a production value that matches the drama
theme. I like the light camera tone because it suits the youthful feeling of
its story. This added by its relaxing soundtrack. Age of Youth also has a sleek
editing. It seems that one-hour flew by really fast.
However, Age of Youth still has its own imperfections. Age of
Youth story focus more on the three girls, which are Eun Jae, Jin Myung, and Yi
Na. I wish that Ye Eun and Ji Won had equal story arc like the other three.
Beside that, there are some questions that leave unanswered until the drama
ends.
Watching Age of Youth is like meeting an old friend. There is a
warm and longing feeling whenever we start watching the everyday life of Belle
Epoque girls. The stories seem familiar with real life while the characters
appear as a mirror of us. Belle Epoque girls dynamic allows us to engage more
with the girls. As a result, we always wish the best for them just like we wish
for ourselves.
Definitely one of the best Korean dramas with female friendship
theme!
Rating: 4.5/5
0 comments:
Post a Comment