Begins ≠ Youth

Seven boys, One safe place: how Begins ≠ Youth healed me

GENRE: life, youth, drama, fantasy | EPISODES: 12 (1h 8min) | COUNTRY: South Korea | AIRED:  Apr 30, 2024 - May 14, 2024 

OVERALL RATING:  5★/5 

cover from the IMDb web page

As a BTS fan I couldn't miss this one. When I watched it for the first time I didn't imagine how good it would be and how deeply it would have marked me. The main purpose is to follow the imaginary storyline of the BTS album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, but I think that besides that specific goal, it surely reaches a wider public with a dramatic and deep story that left me speechless. Not to mention the skills of the actors who I didn't know before this k-drama but started loving and following their works right after it. 

SYNOPSIS ⋆˚࿔

The show follows the lives of seven boys navigating their school years and personal growth, each grappling with family obligation, loss, poverty, abandonment, violence, and rejection. From their problems and traumas a beautiful and deep friendship begins and they become each other's family and safe place. 

MY REVIEW ⋆⭒˚.⋆

I want to start this review with this word: MASTERPIECE, because it was the exact thing I kept saying for every episode from the very beginning. As said before, the story is inspired by the BTS universe that as a fan I have always seen as incredibly intriguing and interesting. Some scenes of the k-drama are inspired specifically by BTS music videos from that era of their discography.  Besides that tho, I sometimes felt into the whole story that I forgot I was actually watching something related to a story that was already half-existing. Each and every character has their own story and their own universe, and since they study at the same school their paths tangle and they build this strong and deep friendship where each of them is ready to help each other as if they were family, beyond any kind of hardship and problem. The episodes were captivating, interesting and breathtaking. I won't exaggerate if I say that I felt out of breath sometimes because I was struggling with following the hardships and moments the characters had to go through. It was an experience. I speak as a fan, yes, but at the same time I felt so deeply connected with all the characters, their struggles and the topics highlighted in the show that it won't be that hard for me to say that it can surely be a good comforting show even for who doesn't know who BTS are. 

It is seriously that deep that my feelings were a total roller-coaster: cries, laughs, pain... everything in just 12 episodes (which are still not enough to me!) that broke me and healed me at the same time and with the same stories and characters. For every BTS fan who watched this, we might agree on the fact that it was like watching young BTS members together but at the same time it felt like it wasn't them either. They somehow were able to bring the 2015 BTS back to the present time and gave the characters the personality that BTS had in their MV. We all probably thought of them in the same way. If I have to pick my favorite characters - and absolutely not because I didn't like the others, but for personal preferences on the skills and the development of the story - I would pick Haru and Hosu. Their friendship, their stories and the actors' skills were insane and made me empathize with them the whole time. 

Each and every character embodies a specific trauma: mental health, family problems, violence, poverty, society expectations... and they are built in the most perfect and deep way. Somehow it seems like when the characters are all together memories and scenes light up and when they are facing their life problems by their own, it seems everything changes and becomes harder and darker. I felt like - besides the main purpose and meaning of BTS songs - it was also a metaphor for life. Surely not everybody lives the same traumas, the same struggles and has to face the same hardships in their lives, but it doesn't mean something is more or less important than something else. I felt like the whole show was just saying "reach someone's hand and even your struggles will be less heavy". I have always lived my life thinking that when you have a problem, if you're surrounded by someone who really care about you, there is no need to keep it all inside. If you share what bothers you, your shoulders won't be so heavy and you'll have to face half of the pain. The show gave the exact explanation to me. They lived their best moments when they were together even tho each and every of them was living the worst problems, traumas and struggles. The pain in their eyes was still there, but somehow when surrounded by good and caring friends, they felt safe and protected. Not just to speak up but even to lean on someone different. 

Just before concluding my review I want to give another shout out to the background music. Among BTS original tracks for the most meaningful moments, they also chose to add other kind of songs that I honestly have in shuffle in my playlist all the time. It gave such a great vibe and the whole mood was totally different with that kind of music choices. It is so true that sometimes music makes it all. 

That said, I leave you with this quote that it sounded so like BTS to me, but also the quote that expresses clearly what that friendship looked like and how strong that bond was. 

It bothers me when one out of every seven of us is missing. I don't know why, but I just don't like it. i hope we can be all together. When we are all together, I don't have to think about wanting to die.  

Thank you for reading this far, let me know if you watched or plan to watch this show. See you next time :) 

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