A masterfully done coming-of-age story

I would like focus this review on addressing common complaints about the show.

1. Main love story and ending. Countless posts and reels/shorts list this show as an example of sad ending. That is understandable since it is rare for main characters to fall out of love and end their relationship. However, it is not so rare in real life, and people do overcome breakups and can still be happy in life. And due to the nature of this show, we knew that they do not end up together right from the beginning. This is a coming-of-age story rather than a classic romance, it is about young people achieving their goals and dreams, which they definitely did.

2. Characters of Yu-rim and Hee-do's mother. Since the show doesn't have antogonists/villains, these characters are sometimes seen as antogonists for different reasons. Yu-rim did say some hurtful things often time unnecessarily and unprovoked. She is immature, prideful and insecure in first half, but she is also a teenager. Many of those things can be explained by her situation and she was just too stubborn and prideful to acknowledge Hee-do, which is also realistic. On the other hand, mom is sometimes portrayed as a bad parent, especially in comparison to Yu-rim's parents. But we have to remember that most of the story is Hee-do's POV through her diary, a classic case of a biased narrator. As a single mother in SK of 90s she did an exceptional job of raising Hee-do (money, comfort and ability to pursue her dreams). And many of their fights were due to lack of communication, stubbornness and avoidance, not because she was a bad mother. Both Yu-rim and Hee-Do's mother are complex characters that do have their flaws, but they are also sometimes misunderstood by viewers.

From friendship dynamics to personal growth this show masterfully captures both youthful optimism and harsh reality of adulthood. Like the lyrics of the song "I thought it would last forever, twenty five twenty one", but here it is filled with nostalgia and warm memories.

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Felled like 16 episode long therapy session

Many different genres can be applied to this drama, including psychological, life, corporate politics, family, friendship and even spy drama. But the most appropriate is probably "Healing Drama", not just for characters but also for viewers.

And you don't even need to relate to the main characters' struggles to feel that healing and almost therapeutic aspect of this show. Characters here are not without flaws, but that is what makes them so real. No matter how complicated their situations are, you are able to understand what they are going through and feel those same emotions. That is a joint effort of writers and incredible actors, particularly Lee Sun-Kyun (rest in peace) and Lee Ji-Eun, IU. Their healing journey and character growth throughout the show were very inspiring and heartwarming. It offered viewers an opportunity to go through this therapy session that was long and emotional but also impactful. And unlike many similar psychological life dramas you want to rewatch this show many times.

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Best show in the long list of masterpieces written by Lee Woo-jung

Such a blend of slice-of-life, medical drama, music band, romance and friendship story doesn't seem like something that could work. But yet again Writer Lee makes everything possible together with a stellar cast and amazing director.

The main strength of the drama is acting from main leads to supporting cast to all the patients that were there for an episode or two. Which is also thanks to the amazing script and carefully written stories. All of this makes it possible to emotionally connect with all the characters. That is often hard to achieve in medical dramas, since it often involves very serious moments which can get exhausting to the viewers after so many episodes. But the production team and actors managed to perfectly mix lightheartedness with serious emotional moments. The comedic timing here is impeccable both in every single conversation and episode as a whole.

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