Age of Youth lives on once more in it's much anticipated sequel. I'm not sure who was anticipating this show's return more, The foreign fans of the show or the Korean viewers who really matter the most when it comes to ratings. Netizens constantly raved about how they didn't care for season one but I guess the haters who tuned in turned into numbers in the long run. Seeing as the show got a second season. Something many K dramas don't get. Lee Tae Goon returns to direct while Park Yeon Sun takes the up the pen again to write the script for this season. Han Ye Re, Han Seung Yeon, and Park Eun Bin reprise their roles from season one. Ji Woo and Choi A- Ra join the cast as new faces along with a group of potential love interests, Including Shin Hyun Soo from season one.
The second season of this show starts about one year after the first season. Please be forewarned, there's a lot to get use to before you can truly enjoy this season. One big change is the character switches that come and go so fast that it will make your head spin. I do digress through, My heart was willing to open up to the new characters as long as they mended well with the unfolding story. Which in a certain way they did. I had no problem with the new actors after awhile of getting to know them. What bothered me the most was the inconsistent storytelling. The script was written like there was a solution for all the problems that was going on with the production of the drama. When there honestly wasn't. Obviously some actors and actresses either didn't want to do the second season or didn't have time to be fully involved. Two of the most beloved couples from season one were written off to introduce two new characters. Viewers are next left with a big act of trolling for a good duration of the drama. You end up becoming a little confused because these are relationships established pretty strong foundations in the first season only to be reduced problematic issues. For example, one boyfriend from season one was MIA the whole damn drama until the last episode….. WHAT THE HELL?? Some of the issues that the roommates have to deal with still makes for very good screen time and the core of the story contains a strong sense of feminism. This does at least tie into the same in your face type of storytelling that made season one so great. It's not the gushy romance that brings out Age of youth's charm but instead the seasons direct take addressing issues that effect women in the world as well as South Korea. Issues that South Korea didn't feel comfortable discussing until more recently thanks to the ever so growing open minded Korean youth population. I loved the dramas scenes about the aftermath of relationship abuse and child molestation because these issues are very real in today's world. South Korea needs to start facing these issues in the face without shying away from them. Not to say that this age of youth plays out with no happy moments. The girls have more than their share of fun interacting together. This is another huge highlight of watching this drama. Everyone's trying to figure out how to live day by day in the best way possible. Meaning they all waste no time coming to together to laugh, cry, or just play tricks on one another. I was always a bit on edge watching them as the writer seemed to like putting them in situations of being held hostage by some random man.
I'm going to lay this out on the table right now. I had no problem with Ji Woo's acting as the new Eun Jae. True, she was not as cute as the other actress but her acting was doable. She even developed her own rhythm for acting with the other girls. She fits right in after a few episodes to me. What I hated about her was Eun Jae's character herself. The character was EXTREMELY selfish during this season. I felt a little bad for Shin Hyun Soo having to develop a whole new chemistry with a new actress after spending so much time with the other. His character doesn't have the same feelings that he had during the first season so having new actress might have helped him act better. Choi A-ra is the new roommate that's a tomboy. Her character got neutral feelings from me. I didn't like her nor did I dislike her. She surprising fills Yi-Na's space quite well. Park Eun Bin's character is the jokester of the group. Her background gets much more exposed this season leading to a sad side to the show. My heart hurt for her a lot since her character is always the one trying to put smiles on her roommate's faces. Han Ye Ri's character counts as the mother of the group of girls. Her acting is cold as ice. Her face rarely ever shows emotion and when it does it's for a big reason. I didn't like the confusing way her character is written to have a love interest while still technically having a boyfriend. Han Seung Yeon's character is another look down the path to depression. The character is a product of relationship abuse from a year ago. Gosh, her character was an emotional wreck the first half of the drama. The girl had me hooked every time she was on screen though. Research of the topic of abuse you can tell really got her into that role. It's a complete opposite mood from the cute girl she was from season one. Let me tell you. I felt every fear she had through her performance. Talented actresses do that to me. All the new male leads added a new depth to the girls as motivations to get their lives back on track. Each relationship was cute like in season one…… Well expect for Eun Jae's.
Like in my post about season one, The opening sequences for the introduction for each episode pulls me in every time I tuned in to watch Age of Youth 2. All the different footage of people from all over the world and the scenery makes you remember that there's a big world outside of yourself.
Age of Youth 2 was alright….. I don't really know what I wanted from the second season but there was plenty that I liked and some aspects that I didn't like. The writer needs to stop commenting about Beyonce's legs in her scripts before the beehive drags her ass.[INSERT ME LAUGHING!]
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