Record of youth is exactly how the title says it, a wholesome record of the journey of youths with different backgrounds, upbringings and financial statuses, but same big dreams and ambitions. Moreover since the plot took a holistic approach to the characters, there was a very honest character development there with realistic scenarios that happen in the life of people pursuing their respective professions; hence the drama felt like something that might be the story of a neighbourhood acquaintance than something fictitious happening on screen. Park Bo Gum surprised me I had to say. To me he always felt like this good looking actor with a character portrayal of freshness, naivety and innocence, but in this drama you get to see really the inner depths, struggles, anxieties, frustrations, self-doubt, betrayal, anguish, loneliness, so many different shades that made his act probably the most suitable for this character over all. Other than him all the actors did a fabulous job overall playing their characters. I also liked that the friendship was so honest and didn't disappear into some dark cliches of jealousy and betrayal. Whatever they felt, wether envy or pride, they talked about it openly like good best friends do and thats another reason why I felt like this was a neighbourhood story. They also tried to show friendship beyond financial status and real understanding of each other according to how the modern world works rather than open cliche discrimination like in those old dramas. By the way, who else thought Shine Ae Ra was hot in this drama 😋? Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this drama and highly recommend it!