K-Drama Reaction: Record of Youth

Texts and Comments

So, they’re not done yet with the Charlie Jung issue (sigh). I’m annoyed at the reporter who keeps on writing speculations about the personal life of a dead person. It’s also frustrating that Sa Hye-jun (Park Bo-gum) doesn’t want to reveal Charlie’s last text message. That could save him from the hate comments. I’m on Lee Min-jae (Shin Dong-mi) CEO-nim’s side on this. Being gay should never be an issue. It’s 2020 people. If their aim is to show that the reality that the society is still traditional and closeminded then they’re not doing it well. And so yes, it is quite frustrating that they kept on using this conflict when they could have used other issues anyway.

On good developments though, we see a big improvement to the father-son relationship of Sa Min-ki (Han Jin-hee) and Sa Yeong-nam (Park Soo-young). Yeong-nam has been showing that he’s now more open to the careers chosen by his son and his father. Another relationship that’s becoming better is Hye-jun’s relationship with his brother Sa Gyeong-jun (Lee Jae-won). He’s insistent to not apologize to Hye-jun’s hater is such a funny scene to watch. But behind its humorous appeal, the scene actually shows Gyeong-jun’s character development.He grew from a selfish brat to a caring brother.

Komawo and Mianhe

If Hye-jun’s relationship with his family is getting better, Won Hae-hyo (Byeon Woo-seok) is experiencing the opposite. He broke down because of all the pressure coming from his mother Kim I-yeong (Shin Ae-ra). And he can’t even talk about it to Hye-jun because it will only make him feel smaller. Hae-hyo is not used to that. He always seems to be ahead and above Hye-jun in everything. But with Hye-jun’s success, their standings have been switched. I like that Hye-jun can now show he could also be of support to Hae-hyo just like how Hae-hyo did in the past.

Another relationship that turned sour is Hye-jun and Ahn Jeong-ha’s (Park So-dam). It started with both of them questioning ‘why not me?’ Hye-jun noticed Jeong-has been more comfortable talking to Hae-hyo recently. While Jeong-ha discovered Hye-jun is working with his ex-girlfriend Jung Ji-ah (Seol In-na) in dealing with hate comments. The latter has goaded Jeong-ha’s hidden insecurities about their relationship. Add the fact that’s it seems like her relationship is only making it worse for Hye-jun.

I saw it coming. It’s quite funny that Jeong-ha actually admitted their break-up was cliché. Because it was and as I’ve said, I was expecting this already. I wonder though how they’ll resolve this conflict. My guess is that Hye-jun will enlist and they had to spend time away from each other. I usually don’t like time skips and noble idiocy but I guess, after all this, that would be what their characters would need.

Maknae’s Week 7 Verdict

I was expecting bigger developments this week. It’s the penultimate episodes after all. But I felt like they dropped the bomb too late. I’m talking about the break-up. Because I thought that we’ll be dealing with it this week but instead, they dragged it out until the last week. I’m still torn if I will consider that a good thing or not. Let’s see if the final week will be better.

Afterthoughts

-Deok-seon!