‘About Youth’ Review – Soft, Simple, Forgettable

Simple, sweet, soft and almost silly, that’s 2022 Taiwanese teen romance series ‘About Youth’ for you. Competing in a genre that now has big hit shows like ‘Heartstopper’ and ‘KinnPorsche’ from the same year, ‘About Youth’ is pales out in comparison. That said, it’s a decent ‘one time watch’, with a very generic story.

Directed by Tsai Mi Chieh, the show stars Shen Jyun as aspiring singer Xu Qi Zhang, Li Zhen Hao plays his crush & campus star Ye Guang. The other lead couple, who also happen to have more chemistry, is portrayed by Hsu Shuo Ting and Andy Huang. There’s a basic rich boy vs poor boy theme, Xu Qi Zhang is raised by a single struggling mother and often bullied by his uncle, whereas Ye Guang comes from a wealthy family but has extremely strict parents who treat him like an asset. The two become friends and eventually the friendship deepens.

The show’s music is quite nice, but it’s all too soft. The primary couple has close to no chemistry, they are just two giggly teens who are more coy than one would expect them to be. With just 8 episodes to boot, while the story isn’t exactly rushed, it’s weirdly both slow and fast. While it feels like not a lot is happening, the relationships between the two leads escalates at an absurd pace. Watch it if you are looking for a simple teen romantic series with a cute cast.

It’s a 5/10 from me.