As someone who has been watching Japanese BL for more than 15 years, I've pretty much seen it all in terms of how good or how head-banging a show can be. Up till now, even the most well-loved shows of mine, I always end up somehow having some issues with *Yes, I'm talking about those shaky-ass camerawork that ruin the beauty of the scene and acting*. But even so, aesthetics and a solid OST have always been very successful traits amongst Japanese BLs. And if you're lucky you get that together with immersive acting, or splendid directing, or a smooth editing and production, but it's only ever one or the other. Now couple that with a manga/webtoon adaption, the bar is set even higher.
I remember looking at the poster of this drama back in September and having absolutely no expectations. Honestly, I was probably suffering from the trauma that is Happy of the End (another very painful adaption, I might add), and in combination, with 2 very fresh actors tackling their first few main roles, I think I wanted to play it safe.

I am so ecstatic to say how beautifully wrong and surprised I am about this drama. The actors Junsei and Kenshin are absolutely stellar in their roles as Minase and Hirukawa. The direction is fantastic, the editing and the pacing of the scenes and episodes make perfect sense. Even the most painful of episodes were painfully good. I am in awe of how this gem of a show just swept me off my feet just like that. Perhaps chasing this show back to back since its first episode release also contributed to the longing I had for each episode thereafter. It’s just that good.

As someone who had read the webtoon, the show did a great job of talking about difficult topics (after story spoilers?) that Japanese BLs generally move away from, particularly since it ruins the fantasy image that the majority of them aim to achieve. Our Youth artfully tackles realistic topics in the settings of present society but still manages to mix in the fate-esque aspect of relationship development. There is a lot of callbacks in this show, and re-watching it from the beginning almost brings you a second layer of answers to questions that you carry during the first watch.

This show is not absolutely perfect in every way, foremost, I definitely wished they put in an extra episode or two after the time jump to really reel in the story development but honestly, the extra story just capped off all my worries ( I highly recommend to watch ). The execution of this drama is really a compilation of a stellar team production to push this through (FYI, one of the directors was a director in some of the best episodes in I Hear the Sunspot too), and a lot of heart. An absolute gem in one of the most competitively good Japanese BL years ever..