I have so many feelings right now. Shortly after I'd finished watching bizarre slice-of-life thriller Age of Youth, a second season was announced, and I expected to kind of passively enjoy it, the way I did with the first season. But to my surprise, I got so invested this time around, that I committed to watching every single episode raw because I just couldn't wait a week for subs.
NOTE: Spoilers.
NOTE: Spoilers.
Something I thought about the first season was that although I liked every story-line individually, but they didn't all mesh well together. The friendship between the housemates was nice, but there was never enough of it.
The tone of Age of Youth has set it apart from every other coming-of-age story I've seen, since there was a quick and startling transition to thriller in the last third of the drama. To an extent, there were already mystery elements involved in the plot, since three of the girls were trying to untangle the biggest conflicts of their pasts, but it still came as a surprise.
The tone of Age of Youth has set it apart from every other coming-of-age story I've seen, since there was a quick and startling transition to thriller in the last third of the drama. To an extent, there were already mystery elements involved in the plot, since three of the girls were trying to untangle the biggest conflicts of their pasts, but it still came as a surprise.
Each actress was well chosen to their role. Rookie Park Hye-soo seemed so appropriate for shy and reserved Eun-jae, for example, that I was taken aback a little by her miscast role in Introverted Boss. I could talk about it in detail, but it's enough to say that each role felt tailor-made for the actor.
Funnily enough, I found that the stories I liked the most in the first season ended up being the ones I liked least in the second season. Eun-jae and Jin-myung's growth had ended with the first season, so their stories in season two frustrated me for the most part. There's also that to note.
After Yi-na leaves the house at the start of the Age of Youth 2, the girls meet their new housemate Jo Eun. A year having passed since the first season, the girls have many new struggles to face.
Initially, the team hoped all of the girls would be coming back, but Ryu Hwa-young bowed out early, and Park Hye-soo left later on due to scheduling conflicts (meaning her character was already written back into the narrative, so they had to change the actress).
Formatically, this season was very similar to the first, but the melodramatic conclusion hurt far more this time than it did last season. There was more focus on the character's love-lines though, since most of the girls had tackled their biggest fears in season one.
I loved all of the new characters introduced - it was a stroke of genius to take great actors like Kim Min-suk (who somehow hadn't really made a new for himself until now) and elevate him to bigger and better roles. I didn't expect anything from newbie Choi Ara, but she proved to be one of the best things about the drama.
But the real star of season two was Park Eun-bin - her character, Song Ji-won, was the comic relief of season two, and although hints were dropped regarding her traumatic childhood, the writer never quite got around to it. In fact, she wrote this season in order to explore Ji-won further. She stole the show, I'm still haunted by her tragic fate.
Park Yeon-sun, the writer, I've realised is incredibly ambitious. The initially cute epilogues turned melodramatic fast, and when they did, I realised the show had caught me on levels I never expected. I thought the show would be sweet and fun, but never did I think this show would make me cry uncontrollably. I loved the second season so much more than the first because it felt like the team had upped their game, everything was better.
Formatically, this season was very similar to the first, but the melodramatic conclusion hurt far more this time than it did last season. There was more focus on the character's love-lines though, since most of the girls had tackled their biggest fears in season one.
I loved all of the new characters introduced - it was a stroke of genius to take great actors like Kim Min-suk (who somehow hadn't really made a new for himself until now) and elevate him to bigger and better roles. I didn't expect anything from newbie Choi Ara, but she proved to be one of the best things about the drama.
But the real star of season two was Park Eun-bin - her character, Song Ji-won, was the comic relief of season two, and although hints were dropped regarding her traumatic childhood, the writer never quite got around to it. In fact, she wrote this season in order to explore Ji-won further. She stole the show, I'm still haunted by her tragic fate.
Park Yeon-sun, the writer, I've realised is incredibly ambitious. The initially cute epilogues turned melodramatic fast, and when they did, I realised the show had caught me on levels I never expected. I thought the show would be sweet and fun, but never did I think this show would make me cry uncontrollably. I loved the second season so much more than the first because it felt like the team had upped their game, everything was better.
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