Azure Spring Review

A perfect drama for a slow summer day where you just eat, swim, and have chats with your friends.

However, a lot of people would like to disagree with perfect...

Have you seen "Azure Spring"? What are your thoughts?

"Azure Spring" was first written as a webtoon and adapted to the web drama. By director Jung Hun Soo and screenwriter Ha Jin.

The director of the drama is familiar with making an eccentric girl come to the small town and the healing journey of the characters.

He had previously directed "Eccentric! Chef Moon", which already says in the title that there are going to be funny shenanigans while they heal together. And "Twelve Nights", which is a bit more slow-paced.

"Azure Spring" had its own charm and a bit of slapstick comedy. The slap that made the man do a whole salto to the pool was a bit out of place, but nonetheless funny.

I even rewatched it a couple of times to see how he flew away.

There is not much on the screenwriter Ha Jin, but I believe this was a nice first drama. It was well structured, and that is surprisingly rare for a short drama.

Synopsis:

Here are two individuals who are unable to move forward due to their past and fear of the future. Deok Hyeon and An Na, a job seeker paralysed by anxiety, become Haenyo (female divers), plunging into the sea with nothing but their bodies. The cost is steep, yet they experience things they couldn't feel in the stagnant world they came from. Deok Hyeon sees the sea as a refuge, while An Na sees it as an escape. Despite their different backgrounds, they find solace diving into the ocean. (MyDramaList)

"Azure Spring" character pictures taken from Asianwiki.

Please note that the whole review will be without any spoilers. I haven't seen a lot of people watching it, and it's a short drama, so maybe I'll help to find something new.

"Azure Spring" does very well with a quick introduction of the main characters as they slow down the pace in the middle.

The story is not perfect, and it would have been better with more developed characters instead of showing an AI cat. There was no purpose for the cat as the characters barely interacted with it, so it's hard to understand why they didn't use a real cat.

Of course, it might not do what you want, but maybe don't include any animal at all. It was unnecessary and ruined the immersion.

The diving/swimming part of the story was quite heart-warming. The way it propelled An Na to open up and become more confident in herself was very nice.

The cooking part was also alright. There are better short dramas about cooking ("Recipe for Farewell"), but it was there to create a more calming atmosphere, even though the food did not always look appealing.

A bit about the last bibimbap bowl: even the characters were sceptical until they tasted it, but this is not my house, it's supposed to be aesthetic drama, which includes cooking delicious food sometimes.

I should be drooling and thinking about how I should make it at home.

Moving on to the characters, which were probably the worst thing in the drama, according to everyone.

After the first episode, it's hard to stand An Na and her character. She steals the food and then tries to claim it was rubbish, and acts like she did nothing wrong whenever she bothers Deok Hyun.

She gets a bit better in the later episodes, but this brattiness is still in her.

The scene where she stood up for herself was very nice, but also hard to believe. It is her workplace, so a bit different setting, but she can never shut her mouth for a second when something is bothering her.

It was surprising to see her hold out for so long.

Yun Deok Hyun barely talks in the first few episodes, creating this mysterious persona, but it slowly goes away as he is pushed by An Na to open up.

His backstory is also quite interesting, and he had some really heart-warming scenes in the end.

However, I wanted a bit more from their friends - Baek Su Jeong and Jung Ki Tae.

An episode for their storyline would be nice, how Ki Tae searched for Deok Hyun, or why Su Jeong is left in this town while she wishes to become a singer.

All four of them had a nice friendship moment, though, and the bickering definitely escalated the drama.

Overall opinion of "Azure Spring"...

This was a nice, short drama. I'm not sure why MyDramaList hated it so much.

The storyline knows what kind of story they want to tell, and characters slowly grow and accept each other and themselves.

Plus, making some food and having the sea view is really not that bad.

7.5/10