Not worth it. Not even for the Fish Cult.

If you have 20 hours to burn and are not afraid of uneven writing, messy pace, bipolar directing, not-so-mysterious mystery, drastic acting gaps and torturous slow burn that can put any victorian romance to shame, then try it - it's oh-so-pretty visually, tackles some interesting themes (to a varying success), celebrates friendship and loyalty and has a cast full of charming characters, no matter how you combine them.

It has interesting characters and captivating plotlines but the writer chose to shove that away in return for a cracking villain. What could have been a compelling story about revenge and the growth of our characters has turned into a flat 20-episode story where you can skip about 4-6 episodes and catch up easily.
Long story short: not all dramas can maintain the pace and stick the landing when you prolong the story more than needed.

I bailed at Ep 10 and took up Secret Romantic Guesthouse as a replacement.
That is a wonderful picture of the cast.
The drama could have centered on the the 2FL’s story as a novice coroner’s apprentice, I would have stayed for that .

I reckon this one works as a binge watch because you can fast forward as needed without the agonising feeling of having to wait each week to hope that something in the writing changes. Unfortunately, for me at least, this show couldn't meet the exciting potential it set up with its premise at the very beginning, nor the ambitious 20 episodes it gave itself to carry out the plotline(s).

Antagonists aren't really that memorable. Or memorable for the wrong reasons, like their evil cackle and something about a pretty red & blue fish? That fish somehow occupies more of my brain space than anything else from this show, despite it having like a grand total of 5 minutes of screen time. And after a while the Sherlock Holmes shenanigans start to wear thin because the direction of the plot is lacking (and confusing at times lol).

Overall not a bad drama but not one that's going to stick around in my head. I won't be running back to watch again any time soon.

Watch: if you're curious, for Park Hyung-sik and Pyo Ye-Jin, pretty aesthetics, if you fancy writing a fanfic of what could've been (please someone do this!).

Don't watch: if you're misled by the posters to think the romance is front and centre (it's a slow burn on the lowest heat setting) or for tight writing and pace.

I wonder how I managed to last until ep 12! That’s the feat I would say given how monotonous it was.

Par Hyung-shik in royal robes again, I liked it! It has one open antagonist and another working in the sidelines. Both the FL and female second-lead dressing up as males while the men who knew about it trying to shield them from harm, while also trying to get to the root of all the problems, it was entertaining for me

This was a show that had a great premise - but threw it away through poor direction, scripting and pacing.

The basic story idea was great - a couple of female detectives who cross-dress to solve cases combining with a male pseudo-forensic scientist (and a few others) to solve crimes and especially a plot to overthrow the Joseon dynasty, rooted in some events ten years previous. There are some interesting themes at times, on the limitations on the role of women in (Joseon) society, class expectations that looked promising at times. And at various points it really looked like things were being set up for a spectacular showdown.

Alas, the drama never really allows our heroes to actually get anywhere in their investigations, completely fails to develop the motivations of their protagonists beyond the very superficial, or explain just why they took the (seemingly inexplicable) path they did, and largely wimps out on the themes of agency for women and the rigidity of class structures. Combine that with some highly implausible (indeed utterly fanciful) story elements, a cardboard cutout bond style main villain, and a fairly anti-climatic ending, and the show is a fizzer.

It could perhaps have been saved if they had stepped on the gas for the two or possibly three romances flagged in it, but alas, everyone was so busy being prim and proper in Joseon terms, that to call it all slow burn is kind.

There were at least two really memorable episodes in terms of cinematography, out in the fields and a polo game (though polo games seem to becoming a sageuk trope these days!) which are worth fast forwarding to!

But ultimately the only reason to watch Our Blooming Youth really is the cast and the cinematography (in a couple of episodes). The leads, especially Park Hyun-Sik, Pyo Je-nin, Yoon Jeon-seok and Jeon So-nee and did their best despite a terrible script, and made me really want to go and watch some of their other work now.

A middling watch. Best watched with one hand on the FF button during the second half. Don't waste your energy trying to solve the mystery either and just enjoy the fun times when we get 4 of the characters meeting up to discuss a mystery or chat over a meal.

Absolutely watch it for:
A very cute and believable romance
A compelling storyline that covers a lot of social themes, and a mixture of science, superstition and a bit of the unexplained in our universe.
A main lead that will leave you stunned with his mesmerizing eyes, a magnificent physique, deep deep voice and an incredible performance. I have not seen him before but he is a complete package and probably the best K-drama lead I have seen so far (watched 20 K dramas so far, Lee Min Ho being my fav but now I have to find more of Park Hyung Sik's work).
A badass heroine who never stops being the badass, and she can act.
The best confession scene by a female character of all time.
Layered characters : Prince has Everest size trust issues, is very emotionally needy, reactive and defensive, but he is also a genius, honorable to a fault (hence the passionate but platonic romance) and, has immense patience and fortitude; the heroine is a smart detective, gregarious but is very impulsive and exceptionally brave, putting herself in danger many times, sometimes foolishlly so and it's a theme all through. She is good at hypothesis but she also acts first and thinks later. The second main lead is conflicted and very emotional too, and is deeply attached to whoever he lets in his orbit (he spends the entire series being in love with a picture of his fiancee he has never met nor knows. And oh! The picture looks NOTHING like Min Jay Yi lol!)
The side characters: A genius and ridiculed scientist who also fashions himself on a bit of a detective; He is a goofball and is so much fun to watch. All his scenes are laughathons.
A loyal and faithful servent who puts her life on line for her mistress and is the perfect foil to the mad scientist.
Super villains: Some stereotypes, some surprisingly layered.
A lot of character building: The first 10 episodes are all about building relationships. The last 10 are about resolving of mystery and conflicts.
Note: Please read about arrange marriages in Eastern socities. It did not include choice/love and the couples didn't see or meet each other. It was a family union and the couples could not choose who to marry.
The only complain: The lead couple is amazing, and wished they had shown some truly intimate scenes and their life together at the end, however the ending is, while short, but very cute and meaningful.
Watch it.

Finally coming back to do this after 2 rewatches, 1 with the family and another by myself. The husband and kids really enjoyed this too. Truthfully during the live watch I can totally see why some people were upset. They really liked to leave the viewers on cliffhangers, which was quite frustrating. I think anyone who goes in knowing the source material and expecting that will be frustrated because they did change it quite a bit but left some pieces in which can seem rather piecemealed.

Also I think one of the original names for the show would have been better "Youth Climb Over the Barrier" since it is a show about many characters overcoming the barriers that society has put up around them to achieve great things or find their happiness. They even overcome strong internal evil forces that threaten an entire kingdom.

However, if you let it stand on its own and get to hit the next button and not wait a whole week, I think you will find this a very enjoyable watch. It is definitely more of a social commentary/mystery than hard core romance. The leads do have a wonderful relationship that starts off wary/suspicion and later to dependable trust and growth with a few hiccups along the way. I think the author/director chose to hide some info for the "reveal factor" later that makes it seem inconsistent during the live watch (such as when and how hard the FL fell for the ML).

The FL is independent, feisty, resourceful, stubborn, righteous, investigator who would have been completely novel during her time. She has always been rather bold and sometimes she comes across as a bit reckless. Sadly, her family is unexpectedly poisoned by eating a meal that she prepared days before her arranged marriage to a man she's never met (2ML who was the childhood best friend of the CP), and now she's marked as a murder and on the run. Her father was the ML's teacher and with his dying breath told her to protect the CP.

When we first meet the ML he is isolated/suffocating and paranoid for good reason as it turns out there are people who are out to dethrone him, and he is forever confined to the palace with his movements watched at all times. He only became the CP after his beloved older brother was murdered and everyone blames him. As a result he is bitter/stiff and rather disagreeable. He is desperate to overcome the curses which he received on the day he became CP and blamed him for his brother's death with the first already fulfilled about his maimed limbs and the 2nd about a betrayal by his friend always on his mind.

Then over the course of 20 episodes we find out who is behind the cursing and why, how the FL's family gets murdered and how it ties into the ML's cursing. The FL and ML vow to protect each other and while doing so fall in love although neither is able to see a path forward together given their different social positions with her labelled as a murder and orphan and him as the CP who is righteous and fair...

I really loved this show. The last third didn’t live up to the first two-thirds in some ways, but nearly all the things I loved about it at the beginning, I still loved about it at the end. I adored our crown prince and his suspicious, closed off attitude, and watching him slowly learn to open up and trust people again was so rewarding. I loved our heroine who refused to cave in to despair despite her impossible situation, and who had one of the most equal relationships with a crown prince I’ve ever seen. The characters have been through a lot (even at the beginning) but rather than brushing everything off or dissolving into bitterness they have really difficult conversations about blame and fault and forgiveness.

There were times when other shows would have given in to fantastical explanations for the mysterious elements of the plot, but this one was committed to it’s message that people are the ones behind terrible events, and believing anything else is letting those awful individuals off the hook. The “scientific” explanations start to break down a bit by the end, but I really admired the fact that they never resorted to the supernatural. The villain was a bit two dimensional (he does have a lovely evil cackle though), but for me that was made up for by the ambiguity of lots of the other characters who had done awful things because they were desperate or had been deceived.

The romance was sad and sweet and aching, but also very much forbidden, so it’s definitely a slow burn. If I’m going to give one major criticism, it’s that I wish it had moved slightly faster, and that we’d gotten more of their story at the very end. The ending, as is so often the case, is a bit rushed, so be aware of that before you start, but what you do get is very sweet, and perfectly them. In the end, this drama is about trusting the people who have proved themselves in your life, and about how easy it is to rewrite history in favor of the powerful. I found it incredibly rewarding to watch our characters navigate both of these issues, and I won’t forget them anytime soon.