chillikun

9/10

Spoilers

> What if ? Life is only One Summer It would be pretty boring ; "We Go Through 4 Seasons for A Reason". although our memories are only of the Summer . A Person with Abandonment issues meet a person with low self esteem ; both lonely people instantly connect and find meaning-happiness in life's but its only short term until their fears are conquered. More mellow than a comedy-one of a kind drama that affect viewer emotionally in a marvelous way. From the conflict that stop the main characters, a reason why we should sympathize and rooting for them, and how the characters change and finally getting their goals at the end. This story journey is unraveled through the theme of weather and season like a pacing stage of life, it lives up to its title "Our Beloved Summer" PLOT ----- The drama is started on the leads most memorable season, summer. It is the season where they entail the growth of love which strengthens the bond and distance between them. They start and end their journey with documentary filming, a lively concept from this drama. The unfolding between the past and the present is another 'fun' point. The stories are told from different perspectives by Choi Woong, Guk Yeon soo and Kim Ji woong maximized immersion in the narrative and emotions of each character. The story that was still hidden will be unfolded anew through the second half like a reversing mirror. Their past story, which encompasses the reality they face, providing a warm touching sympathy beyond laughter and excitement. They show us how real and valid the leads try to rebuild a strong relationship that can stand the test of time, by understanding the different stage of life they go through. This drama isn't only about romance, but it is also about balance between friends, lovers, family and this drama express how that could influence our lives priority. For example the relationship between parent and child [spoiler] both Woongs feel lonely despite one having doting parents and other a neglecting one [/spoiler] and in end the reconciliation were emotional for me even without a dialogue . Characters ------------ Each character is like a season; Every season has a set of associated traits and it shows in the four main lead personalities. They are introduced like a different weather. Choi Woong is summer and Yeonsoo is winter. Both leads are a really contrast and different person with a strong similiar traits that compliment each other. Choi Woong is like the bright blue sky of summer for Yeonsoo, and she is like a warm christmas gift to Choi Woong. Jiwoong is fall by his complexity of emotions. While NJ is spring represents exciting beginning. The characters have fully-formed personality. We can imagine them as existing person as they have both strengths and flaws. Most importantly, from main leads to supporting characters they each have personal goal that determines their arc. The cast also did a great job delivering emotion in the most realistic and natural way. Good acting and good story truly can make interesting play. **Personally Spring is my favorite season and NJ is really under-represented ; she had great chemistry with all other seasons and i wish a lead role for her soon** Cinematography ------------------- Shows themed on weather have really great cinematography and attention to detail. Ex : One Sprint Night and When weather is Fine ; they all are slow-romance but keep us on feet and even an hour feels like 10 minutes strangely . I Have binged all of them (multiple times) and I am glad i waited till finale week for OBS without getting spoiled in SNS. The attention to details Like the time-shift narrative method they used. Then the episode title that is referenced by a lot of classic movie and how it connects the two stories. The number and date details on the flashback scene. The staff also give a lot of attention to property, showing a hint of colors from both main leads, a change of hairstyle on actress, handphone version to determine era, and filming setting with words of referenced korean literature. OST ---- Since OBS was trending for 7 weeks ; I listed to a bit of OST in youtube but it never clicked me and then I watched it this week ; while waiting for last 4 episodes to binge all I hear in loop is this OST ; suddenly I am emotionally connected to the music- I always think good OST are songs that make us focus what is going on the screen while still listening to it at the same time. One that remind us the scenario in the drama without having to watch it. One that is perfectly in tone with the story and for me, this drama truly has those soundtracks. When I listen to "Maybe If" I will remember the hand holding scene. "There For You" reminds me when Yeonsoo broke down into tears. "Christmas Tree" recall the kissing scenario. That is just three songs I mentioned and more soundtracks you have to discover from this drama. All of it perfectly conveys the story of the characters - their yearning, hope, heartache and the struggle to be fine despite the pain of their break up that resurfaced when they meet again. Overall ------- If Mango is king of fruits ; its only available in Summer ; so you have enjoy the Tangerines in winter , Cranberries in fall and Strawberries in spring. Life is not just One Season ; you have to enjoy it all. This drama might have a simple premise but I promise, the story captures well beautifully and realistically complex how relationship work from various perspective. It remind us the different view between people and how to keep the harmony and discord in relationship balance of people around us just like the seasons. Because we know relationships are not all sunshine and rainbow! > Will I recommend it? Of course yes. Will I rewatch it ? Do you have to ask ?

abtr

7/10

I'm conflicted with how to rate this one. I loved the directing. The soft, warm color schemes. Even the wardrobe consisted mainly of white and tan clothes. And the OST was just so lovely, calming and chill. But at the same time, this drama could get so dull at times. This was in no way, shape or form a drama that should be binged. It just doesn't work like that. It's best enjoyed by watching one or two episodes at a time. Otherwise, the softness that was so compelling in small amounts turned into unappealing, unexciting blandness. It's mentioned a few times by one of the characters that what makes their documentaries good is how they capture moments of everyday life that are so ordinary they would otherwise go unnoticed, and that's pretty much this drama in a nutshell. How even daily life is full of special moments we are only made aware of in retrospect. But you can only witness so much of a person's uneventful, daily life before you get bored. So, yeah, pace yourself, spread the episodes out in between maybe something more high energy, dramatic and tense, and I'm sure you'll end up enjoying this one all the more for it.

ParkMin

0/10

The drama had a nice concept but the story was too thin for a full run drama even with the added side stories. It's also why they sneaked in a useless love pentagon that didn't get anywhere. Although you may find the FL's behavior passable as a teen but that wasn't the case as an adult, it was increasingly challenging to endure watching her. It simply didn't serve the narrative. After seeing her character in action I had a strong hunch to why they broke up. Such a reason may be valid when written adequately but, in this case, it came off as a shallow excuse to progress the plot. Even if we were to over glance that, they ended up giving a half-assed resolution to their underlying problems and opted to supplement the rest with an overdose of mindless lovey-dovey scenes while eliminating any opportunity for the drama to delve deeper into the emotional package they threw at us earlier on. Another prime example of the bait and switch technique the Kdrama industry have been going through recently and it doesn't look like this will change. One last thing, there were some obvious amateur editing mistakes sprinkled in the drama. One singular scene may have multiple camera angles but 2 different color grading, even for the same consecutive face shot.