“Our Beloved Summer” Episode 1 and 2 Review: A Fun Start

Published Categorized as Kdrama Recaps
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Our Beloved Summer” has been gaining a lot of attention before its premiere and for a variety of reasons.

For starters, it marks the second time Choi Woo Shik and Kim Da Mi worked together on a project, it also marks Choi Woo Shik first ever leading role in a drama and his first drama project following the massive success of “Parasite,” the drama has also been gaining attention for featuring an OST from BTS’s V which was teased in the premiere.

Note: this is a subjective review. I will share my personal opinion while keeping in mind how others might perceive it. This is a spoiler review

But how does the “Our Beloved Summer” premiere turn out to be? Surprisingly better than I had expected.

The story is cute thus far, its a coming of age story and will be very relatable, the contrast between the beginning of the kids journey to 10 years later provides a lot of pathways to what could become interesting conversations and discussions. I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out to be a bit more mature than what I had expected going in. I always appreciate that, it would be easy to take the very childish route in this case, but it appears the screenwriter is trying to be a bit different, how different? That remains to be seen.

“Our Beloved Summer” has 16 episodes which is already a point of concern to me. I can’t recall the last time I was glad a kdrama was 16 episodes nor do I recall a time this year I thought it was justified. Romance dramas and coming-of-age stories should be shorter.

People underestimate just how much it takes to write a 16 hour worth of content for such types of plots, it’s not easy and there is a reason why standard romance dramas or coming of age stories haven’t been doing well in ratings as much as they used to.

Kim Da Mi and Choi Woo Shik chemistry is good, which is great news especially since Kim Da Mi’s chemistry with Park Seo Joon was basically nonexistent, this is a noticeable improvement.

I have been a fan of Choi Woo Shik and I am so happy he’s come this far, he’s truly talented and I like his character thus far too. Kim Sung Cheol is playing a sort of sad character this time, I just felt so bad for him whenever he was on screen, its like there is a Grey cloud over him at all times. I enjoy him in villain roles a lot more but I am just happy to see his face, it’s been a while. Roh Jeong Eui is super adorable and such a cute addition. She’s grown so much right before our eyes.

What’s interesting about this project is that it marks the director and screenwriter debut project, officially. They’re both women as well [we love to see it]. Since they got Choi Woo Shik and Kim Da Mi on board I am curious to see why those two very talented actors picked this particular project and trusted them. It’s easier and more assuring to depend on established screenwriters and directors for your first comeback drama in a while, this goes for both Choi Woo Sik and Kim Da Mi.

This doesn’t mean the screenwriter or director are bad, I don’t know, but the thing is, not many know either, which could have been a point of concern. I just thought it was worth pointing out because I found this interesting.

Aside from that, I bet pressure was high on both actors as the last time they were seen on TV their projects were a massive success. Kim Da Mi with “Itaewon Class” and Choi Woo Shik with “Parasite.”

If you haven’t heard, “Our Beloved Summer” ratings have already fallen into the 2% range which isn’t great news but I hope it improves, I think there is a chance but they have a little window to show why it would be worthwhile. If episodes 3 and 4 do little job to grip people in, I think the drama will continue to hover around that range, which would sadden me because I want all of these talented actors to succeed.

I wish “Our Beloved Summer” all the best and I am personally excited for next week’s episodes.

So these are my thoughts on “Our Beloved Summer”, so what about you guys? did you like the episodes? let me know what you thought in the comment section below.

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By Jass K.

Hi, I am Jass k. I discuss some of the hottest currently airing kdramas on this site in form of reviews an/or recaps, join me in the discussion~

1 comment

  1. Honestly, did not plan to watch this one, but after your review I will probably give it a try )). Did not want to watch for multiple reasons, very subjective of course. First, Kim Da Mi worked so hard on building the image of playing strong and she excelled in it so much that I just couldn’t picture her playing a romantic lead any more. So from the get go I thought – hmm, if I want to see the coming of age love story, I can probably find a better acted one.
    Second reason – Choi Woo Shik and Kim Da Li already played together in The Witch: Part I – so I have already seen how they interact together. This took away the element of surprise for me and it was another turn off for some reason. Third, actually the one you mentioned – Kim Da Mi and Park Seo Joon did not exist together on screen, as if they were playing separately in two different dramas and because of that I did not want to be disappointed again.
    But now I’ll try a couple of episodes. The format is new (documentary style), the director is female and so far, all kdramas made by the female directors never disappointed me (“the school nurse’s files”, “the red sleeve”).
    Also – even though the domestic viewers ratings are not high, the international audience rated the first episodes quite high this. So let’s give it a try!

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