'Record of Youth': Fans hope everyone 'fades off into obscurity' after 16 episodes of nothing as show ends
'Record of Youth' ended with Jeong-ah (Park So-dam) and Hye-jun (Park Bo-gum) comfortable around each other after a couple of years after the break-up and fans are extremely happy. Many have shared how the fact that the show has finally ended means that they can now let the show fade off into obscurity and not think of the way all the actors including the male and female leads -- Park Bo-gum and Park So-dam -- were wasted in the show. When the show premiered in September, it did have a good start as expectations of watching a slice of life drama that centers on the youth were met.
However, over time, the drama only began to drag with nothing happening except for the Charlie Jung scandal that broke. The transition between Hye-jun's modeling days to his jump into acting was bad, and similarly, his relationship with Jeong-ah did not elicit enough interest and neither did it depict depth that viewers would feel for their sacrifice. Even the open-ended climax that sees Jeong-ah walk with Hye-jun comfortably is not impressive because all of this lacks conviction.
One fan wrote on Reddit, "At this point I hope they end the show with everyone enlisting and then fading off into obscurity. We will then be left to reflect on the fleeting nature of youth and the fickle, unforgiving nature of the entertainment industry."
Another fan replied to this comment and stated, "This series has done such a massive disservice to PBG (Park Bo-gum) and PSD (Park So-dam). There has been no way for them to display their acting capabilities. Maybe they need to enlist Park Seo-joon to help them with script selection in the future."
Another fan complained about how the chemistry between the lead characters was quite off and explained, "Thoughts on the romance between SHJ (Sa Hye-jun) and AJH (An Jeong-ah)? I know the focus is on chasing dreams while putting dating/romance as secondary but I feel like I had to be really sold on the romance first in order for it to be somewhat of a sacrifice that would validate PBG crying his eyes out over. I liked the cool/logical/understated way in which they approached the main couple's relationship but there are other examples of unconventional couples that still have passion/chemistry while setting their careers as a priority (my fave being It's Okay That's Love and Be Melodramatic)."
'Record of Youth' originally airs on tvN on Mondays and Tuesdays in South Korea and can be streamed on Netflix in the US.