Confused by my title? You will understand after you watch the drama.

Our Beloved Summer is the first modern rom-com drama I'm rating 9.5. I don't usually rate an ordinary modern romance drama more than 9, unless it has some fantasy in it. But, this isn't any ordinary slice of life rom-coms that we see here and there. This isn't ordinary at all! This beloved drama just came, stole my heart and went. Let's look why:

THE STORY

This drama is inspired from a webtoon 'Our Beloved Summer' created by Han Kyoung Chal and original work by Lee Naeun, who is also the screenwriter of this drama. The webtoon can be considered as the prequel of this drama as it focuses on the high-school days of the characters. Honestly writing, I haven't read the webtoon. So, I came here with am empty slate and went away (I don't think I'll be able go veryfar. I'll soon come back.) with my heart full of love.

This drama is a coming-of-age, which tells us the story of ex-lovers Choi Woong and Gook Yeon Soo (will hereby be mentioned as CW and YS). They had broke up with a promise to never meet again. But, fate brought them together again. They were forced to come in front of the camera and into eachother's lives as a documentary that they shooted 10 years ago, in high school, goes viral. This series shows their complicated feelings for eachother and their growth, how they managed to organize their feelings.

The thing that I loved in the story was how the story is said. The perspective of the story changes throughout the drama, which helped to focus on all the four main characters's emotions. Also, the portrayal of the relations between each characters is done so amazingly that we could relate to our real lives. This is what a true slice of life really is.

This drama also had many realistic quotes that are hard to realise but will make you stronger.

I also liked the titles given to each episodes that is a summaryof the whole episode. Though we don't get why the episode it named such at the beginning of the episode, we would surely get it at the end. This helps us to digest the whole meaning os an episode.

CHARACTERS

I have never seen such cute wand warm chacarted in any modern romance drama. In most of the modern rom-coms, either the female lead is annoying or the male lead is a goof. I'm not saying I don't like these types of dramas but that the main reason I most of the times give these kinds of dramas a 9 or below is because of the characters of the story. But, in this drama, I saw the kind of characters that can be related to real life.

The character growth in this drama is another aspect that made me give this drama a 9.5. YS was an independent, no-nonsense, aloof and hardworking girl. She was the top of her class. She cared about everyone but was forced to wear a cold nature in front of others due to her poverty. She didn't want others nor herself to be bothered about her feeling. She thought she could handle everything by herself but, ultimately, found out she was not the master of her own emotions. SHe also realised her mistakes and realised that her life too is beautiful.

CW was a free-spirited and unruly last ranker who always avoids doing works. He loved drawing buidings from high school. He was the type of person who don't bother being hurt or uncomfortable, if he can hurt the people around him. As the story went on, he changed into a more matured and understanding person. He, for the first time in his life, followed his heart.

Kim Ji Woong (KJW) was the type of person who is almost like YS, although he is poor. He too didn't want others to bother about his feeligs and always confined everything to himself. He also changed in many ways. He understood his mother, most importantly.

NJ is a kind of person who is always excited and kind. She always want everything to go her way. She is cute and friendly. Also, I have not seen any SFL who is less annoying than her.
The other supporting characters also have fully formed characteristics, which helped to enhance the story line of the drama.

This drama is all about realising mistakes and finding our trueselves.

ACTING AND CAST

I just recently ventured the lands of k-dramas. So, I was utterly umfamiliar with the cast. Through this drama, I became the fans of both Choi Woo Shik and Kim Da Mi. They nailed their character with such degree of emotional depth that there is an intensity of the convincement that touched my heart. They are simply perfect for the roles and their chemistry made me think they are meant for eachother.

And as far as the other characters are concerned, I can say that they all did a good job in portraying their characters. Supporting roles like Ahn Dong Goo and Park Jin Joo madethe drama lively. Also the actors who portrayed Choi Woongs parents did a commentable job.

THE MUSIC

This drama have a whole lot of OSTs, which were just amazing! There were OSTs in English as well as Korean languageThe is another thing that raised my rating for this drama. Most of the episodes introduced new OSTs of the drama. Christmas Tree
and Home are my personal favourites. Some of the notable OSTs:

"Drawer" (서랍) by Kwon Jung-yeol (from 10 cm)
"Maybe If" (우리가 헤어져야 했던 이유) by Bibi
"Squabble" (티격태격) by Ha Sung-woon
"There for You" (이별후회) by Kim Na-young
"Christmas Tree" by V (from BTS)
"Home" (집) by Janet Suhh
"Why" by Janet Suhh
"The Giving Tree" (언덕나무) by Lee Seung-yoon
"Summer Rain" (여름비) by Sam Kim
"Even Now" (아직도 좋아해) by Yang Yo-seob
"I Will Make You Happy" (행복하게 해줄게) by Jang Beom-june
"Our Beloved Summer" by Kim Kyung-hee
"Red String of Fate" (우리가 다시 만날 수 밖에 없는 이) by Kim Kyung-hee

All these OSTs also have their own instrumental version too.

OVERALL

I don't usually favour rom-coms, especially the ones without any special elements like sports, crime or supernatural. But, I'm glad that I didn't avoid this by categorizing it into an ordinary rom-com. Although, primarily looking like an ordinary romance drama, this thakes us through a roller-coaster of emotions, without wasting its potential. It beautifully captures different perspectives of life and thus lives upto its slice-of-life tag. As I said before, I went in with a blank slate and this show truly went beyond by expectations.

Thanks for reading!
Please notify me in case of any mistakes and errors as this is my first long review.