# Youth of May (2021)

> A medical student and a nurse fall in love in May 1980 while the Gwangju uprising and military crackdown tear their city apart.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/99279

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance, history
- Created by: Lee Kang, Song Min-yeop
- Network: wavve, KBS2
- Cast: Lee Do-hyun, Go Min-si, Lee Sang-yi, Keum Sae-rok, Oh Man-seok, Kim Won-hae, Uhm Hyo-seop, Hwang Young-hee
- TMDB rating: 8.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14166666/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: wistful, bittersweet, melancholic, tense

## What critics say

Acclaimed by audiences for its earnest romance and sober handling of the 1980 Gwangju uprising, though some viewers fault its heavy reliance on real-events framing and an overly powerful antagonist.

## Synopsis

Youth of May (2021) is a South Korean period romance drama created by Lee Kang and Song Min-yeop, aired on KBS2 and wavve. Set in May 1980 Gwangju during the civil unrest and military crackdown, the series follows medical student Hwang Hee-tae (Lee Do-hyun) and nurse Kim Myeong-hee (Go Min-si) as their budding love is tested by the violence engulfing their city. Supporting roles from Lee Sang-yi as Lee Soo-chan, Keum Sae-rok as Lee Soo-ryeon and Oh Man-seok as Hwang Gi-nam widen the lens to families, classmates and neighbors caught on different sides of the upheaval. The engine is simple and painful: two people want a future together while the city around them is closing in, and each episode weighs private tenderness against public danger. Told across a single twelve-episode season of one hour each, it moves with the measured pace of a historical melodrama, with hospital corridors, streets and homes becoming places of fear and loyalty. The tone is wistful and sorrowful, grounded in the historical record of a pro-democracy uprising. Fans of May 18 and Doctor Zhivago will find resonance in its blend of intimate romance and historical catastrophe.

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