[Drama 2021] Youth of May, 오월의 청춘

[Sakurafairy]

Ep1 is up already. I'll be back after ep2 aired. 

 

For the meantime, Soompi article is out. 

 

“Youth of May” Director Talks About Its Historical Setting + Lee Do Hyun And Go Min Si Talk About Going From Playing Siblings To Lovers

 

Spoiler

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“Youth of May” Director Talks About Its Historical Setting + Lee Do Hyun And Go Min Si Talk About Going From Playing Siblings To Lovers

May 3, 2021

by C. Hong

On May 3, KBS 2TV’s new Monday-Tuesday drama “Youth of May” held an online press conference ahead of the drama’s premiere.

“Youth of May” is a melodrama about the romance between Hwang Hee Tae (Lee Do Hyun) and Kim Myung Hee (Go Min Si) set against the turbulent backdrop of May 1980, a historically significant time period in South Korea. Lee Sang Yi and Geum Sae Rok co-star as Lee Soo Chan and Lee Soo Ryun, siblings from a wealthy family background but completely different goals in life.

Director Song Min Yeob said, “Set in Gwangju in 1980, it’s about the universal stories of love, sadness, and hate among young people at the time. It’s not about a specific incident. It’s about the stories of the people who lived during that time.”

Recently, dramas and other content have come under fire for historical distortion, misrepresenting real figures and events from Korean history. The director stated, “The drama is set during a historical period, but it’s not the central part of the drama. It’s about universal emotions like love and joy and hate that were felt by the young people who were living at the time. It’s about what the average person will do and choose when faced with unexpected situations.”

Lee Do Hyun stars as Hwang Hee Tae, a medical student who returns to his hometown after a traumatic incident. Asked to compare Hee Tae to his character in his previous drama, “18 Again,” the actor joked, “Well, Hee Tae doesn’t have kids.” He added, “Hee Tae is a very lonely person. He’s the only stranger in the drama. The drama is about what happens to a group of people when a stranger enters their lives.”

Go Min Si stars as Kim Myung Hee, a nurse in the third year of her career. Instead of an “angel in white,” as nurses are often called, her character is described as a “warrior in white,” battling through difficult childhood circumstances in order to achieve her dream. “I felt that the character Kim Myung Hee gave me strength,” the actress said. “I’d always wanted to do a period piece or a melodrama. This project was like fate for me. I carefully reviewed the script and did research.”

Lee Do Hyun and Go Min Si previously worked together in the Netflix series “Sweet Home,” where they played brother and sister. Go Min Si said, “When I read the script for ‘Youth of May,’ it occurred to me that it would suit Lee Do Hyun, so I was shocked when I heard he’d really been cast. We still keep in touch, and I told him that I thought this project would be a good fit for him, but I only learned later that he had actually been one of the favored casting choices.”

She added, “I’m grateful and happy to be working with him again. If people enjoyed watching us together in our previous project, then we can promise a completely different kind of chemistry in this one.”

Lee Do Hyun said, “In our previous project, we played characters who didn’t think of each other as ‘men’ and ‘women,’ but now we were playing characters of the opposite sex who were attracted to each other. We thought a lot about how to approach it and how to make viewers relate to them and feel excited to see them together. I discussed this a lot with Go Min Si and the director.”

“Youth of May” premiered on May 3 and will be available on Viki.

https://www.soompi.com/article/1467207wpp/youth-of-may-director-talks-about-its-historical-setting-lee-do-hyun-and-go-min-si-talk-about-going-from-playing-siblings-to-lovers

 

 

 

29 minutes ago, letsgoa_s said:

Some of the camera angles were odd. There's a weirdly cheesy sort of acting in some of the scenes despite the serious nature of the dram

Really? Oh sad. 

 

Song Min Yeop - ssi is the PD. He has Doctor Prisoner drama and a KBS drama special listed on his filmography. 

cr:Asianwiki

 

 

Me too, I love Lee Sang Yi's portrayal in Once Again. 

 

 

 

‘Youth of May’ Starring Lee Do Hyun and Go Min Si Off to a Good Start Hitting 4.9% Viewership Rating

https://www.kdramastars.com/articles/120567/20210504/youth-starring-lee-hyun-go-min-si-good-start-4-9-viewership.htm

 

***considering this is a big network, this ain't a good start but we'll HOPE for the best for this drama. 

[Lmangla]

 if you loved hospital playlist or watched or just cursorily heard of it, join us for some laughs at the postcard event where we write funny postcards to characters in hospital playlist.  re-watch starts tomorrow (wednesday)! 

 

re: @partyon, @Sleepy Owl 

[gm4queen]

New stills released by kbs.

 

 

 

 

[Latte_Anyday]

Excited to see Lee Do Hyun. He's a promising actor with a lot of potential. I like Myung Hee. Poor thing she's trying to pool money for her enrolment. 

    Hee Tae seem to have an equally difficult situation. I feel like Soo Ryeon's brother like Myung Hee too? And I am gettin' "When My Love Blooms" type of vibe from this. I just hope it won't disappoint. 

[agenth]

I only saw Episode 1. It's a bit boring for now, as the things just have to be set on the board. 

I hope there isn't a love quartett thing. 

 

Although I was shocked when I realised that the FL is the one who played the mean girl in Love Alarm. 

[marrez1]

1 hour ago, agenth said:

I only saw Episode 1. It's a bit boring for now, as the things just have to be set on the board. 

I hope there isn't a love quartett thing. 

 

Yes I quite agree, the only thing that I found intriguing is the first scene of the first episode, I wonder who is this found body, some comments say that it is the female lead.

For romance, it is obvious that there will be two love triangles, the SFL seems to have fallen in love with the male lead at the end of the second episode, even if she had already seen him. She will surely regret not having gone with him on a blind date, so surely a future crazy girl mean against her friend the FL
In any case, neither of the two fathers whether that of the male lead and that of the second male lead will not accept a poor girl like the Female Lead as daughter in law. 

Otherwise the history of the movement seems quite captivating

[letsgoa_s]

4 hours ago, Latte_Anyday said:

And I am gettin' "When My Love Blooms" type of vibe from this.

Yes, that's what this show reminds me of so far! (I've only seen the first episode).

[backstreetboysfan]

Yeah I can see there love in going to have obstacles eh.

[Latte_Anyday]

Glad that the mistaken identity won't be dragged out like "She Was Pretty". Hee Tae is such a sweet guy. Love the chemistry between him & Myung Hee. 

    Though a love triangle is brewing with Soo Chan. Not likin' Soo Ryeon but she seem harmless for now. 

    Ugh those disgusting doctors that work at Myung Hee's workplace so glad Hee Tae gave 'em a lesson! 

[Sakurafairy]

18 hours ago, agenth said:

 

Although I was shocked when I realised that the FL is the one who played the mean girl in Love Alarm. 

 Lol! She is also the meanie sister of Dohyun in Sweet Home. Two meanie roles in her filmography already. Her meanie character in SH pissed me off that's why for some reason I dont fancy her plus her acting ain't so convincing. Sorry but not sorry. Only an opinion on my side. 

[agenth]

Episode 2....

 

welll... i'm still not quite convinced. The camera work sometimes it weird, makes it much cheesier. I suppose they wanted to capture the "old times". 

 

I'm also glad that the mistaken identity wasnt dragged out, but he probably knew from the moment he saw her, since he remembered her from the hospital. 

[Sakurafairy]

Done with the first two episodes. For some reason the drama is up to my liking. The switching of scenes from present to past and vice versa is endearing to me. I love the drama's vintage color.  I have this fascination with drama or film having colors of past era. 

 

The cast are good in acting. I love LDH's voice. A namja indeed. Go Min Si delivered a good acting. The secondary and tertiary cast acted amazing also. 

 

I love the blind date scenes. All the plans laid by Sooryeon were wrecked by Heetae. Lol Those scenes were the highlights of these two episodes for me. 

 

1. Leave a strong impressions when choosing a menu. - Heetae loves beer

2. Change to being a modern career woman - Heetae likes ambitious woman; 

3. Turn to philosopher mode

4. Turn to filthy mode

5. Turn to shopping mode

 

I think Heetae has this admiration already with Myeonghee since the past scenes in the hospital and the first aid MH did to the child made HT's heart fluttered. I think so seeing his facial reactions upon remembering MH's events. 

 

Looking forward to the 3rd and 4th episodes. Eventually, little by little they will disclose who is the man in the first episode ( I don't want to think that it is HT in present time). 

 

On 5/4/2021 at 9:17 AM, letsgoa_s said:

Some of the camera angles were odd.

Flaw: What I observed in the 1st ep is the screen is literally swaying as if a non-professional person is taking the scene.  Why is that? 

 

 

4 hours ago, agenth said:

 

I'm also glad that the mistaken identity wasnt dragged out, but he probably knew from the moment he saw her, since he remembered her from the hospital. 

Hahaha, yup, this mistaken identity thing has been exposed immediately. Heetae remembered her already. Myeonghee just knew about him as the brainiac from SNU who had a banner all over Gwangju. So it will be a problem for Myeonghee's side. 

19 hours ago, agenth said:

I hope there isn't a love quartett thing. 

I think this will be somehow the narrative of this drama. I just hope there will be a subtle excecution of the love and relationships amongs these four coz sometimes the drama gets unfocused because they need to drag twists for these roles. 

[Sakurafairy]

 

 

Soompi article out!

 

“Youth Of May” Continues Quiet Start In Ratings As The Only Drama In Its Time Slot

“Youth of May” continues its quiet start this week!

According to Nielsen Korea, the second episode of “Youth of May,” which aired on May 4, garnered average nationwide ratings of 3.7 and 4.7 percent.

 

This is similar to the average nationwide ratings of 4.4 and 4.9 percent that it garnered during its premiere on May 3. 

 

https://www.soompi.com/article/1467472wpp/youth-of-may-continues-quiet-start-in-ratings-as-the-only-drama-in-its-time-slot

[letsgoa_s]

I'll keep watching the show because I liked Lee Sang-Yi in "Once Again" but the leads are kind of boring me. I've only ever seen the FL in a minor role in "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" and have never seen the ML before. I kind of like the second female lead better. So far, the FL seems like a Mary Sue. She's a great person who helps children who get hit by cars on the street. She doesn't seem to have any flaws. 

[Kvothe]

8 hours ago, letsgoa_s said:

I'll keep watching the show because I liked Lee Sang-Yi in "Once Again" but the leads are kind of boring me. I've only ever seen the FL in a minor role in "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" and have never seen the ML before. I kind of like the second female lead better. So far, the FL seems like a Mary Sue. She's a great person who helps children who get hit by cars on the street. She doesn't seem to have any flaws. 

 

Well, Myeong-hee is already a person who has committed fraud in exchange for money, so that's a bit of a flaw.

 

Watch "18 Again" with the ML. It was one of the best dramas of last year.

[agenth]

1 hour ago, Kvothe said:

 

Well, Myeong-hee is already a person who has committed fraud in exchange for money, so that's a bit of a flaw.

 

Watch "18 Again" with the ML. It was one of the best dramas of last year.

From the ML perspective, he sees that as an adorable Quirk that made him notice her. 
 

so Im not sure whether it can be found as a flaw hahaha. I mean she does feel guilty at least 

 

i agree on 18 again though. 

 

[gayyoxx]

16 hours ago, letsgoa_s said:

I'll keep watching the show because I liked Lee Sang-Yi in "Once Again" but the leads are kind of boring me. I've only ever seen the FL in a minor role in "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" and have never seen the ML before. I kind of like the second female lead better. So far, the FL seems like a Mary Sue. She's a great person who helps children who get hit by cars on the street. She doesn't seem to have any flaws. 

I thirded the suggestion on 18 Again. Lee Dohyun did a brilliant job. Hopefully he'll get the award for his role there.

 

Back to Youth of May, I like the first and second episodes, anxiously waiting when/if the historical tragedy will drop and to what extent it will affect our leads. 

[letsgoa_s]

9 hours ago, Kvothe said:

Well, Myeong-hee is already a person who has committed fraud in exchange for money, so that's a bit of a flaw.

 

I suppose so, but I feel like it's a victimless crime. She's not really hurting anyone doing it. 

[agenth]

11 minutes ago, letsgoa_s said:

I suppose so, but I feel like it's a victimless crime. She's not really hurting anyone doing it. 

It's not identity theft as the person whose identity is taken knows about it.

But it's kind of like intentionally misleading someone (Hee Tae). Sure, he knows about it, the ruse is up, but that doesn't take away the element of wrongness from her actions. 

 

[letsgoa_s]

2 hours ago, agenth said:

It's not identity theft as the person whose identity is taken knows about it.

But it's kind of like intentionally misleading someone (Hee Tae). Sure, he knows about it, the ruse is up, but that doesn't take away the element of wrongness from her actions. 

Yeah, she did deliberately mislead Hee Tae, but it was the other girl's idea. And as someone who also grew up very poor, I can understand doing things like that to pursue one's education when the odds are against you.